The Heart of a Dragon
by lesipiratecat
Summary: Amanda is a dragon able to take the form of human. Olivia is her city's best Assassin, having slain many a dragon in her young adulthood. Though the two beings should be sworn enemies they slowly learn to trust one another. Eventually, they fall in love, but will their love be doomed from the start or will it somehow survive against all odds? warnings for f/f action/rape/torture
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own SVU or any of its characters. I just like to borrow them and use them to act out my own fantasies.

Note: I just wanted to put a big ole warning on this for future female/female loving, cursing, graphicness, and torture scenes. Especially this first chapter. It starts off with torture and rape so if you can't stomach that kind of stuff you might wanna wait until I post the next part. Also just pointing out that the next part will go back in time so we can see what led up to this chapter. I swear it'll all make sense soon.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Amanda woke yet again to darkness and pain. She was naked, freezing, starving, wounded, bleeding, broken. She'd lost track of how much time she'd spent in this Hell. Every day, day after day after day, the same torture, the same agony. She'd lost hope by now that her love- that anyone would be coming to save her. She'd thought it would be worth it. She'd been brought here in the place of her lover voluntarily. She'd thought that the knowledge that her soulmate was out there, alive and going on with her life, would help her get through this, that she could live knowing her mate was safe. Amanda had heard the promise her love had screamed as she'd been taken away that she'd come for her but, in the beginning, had prayed that she wouldn't. But soon, as the torture grew to be too much, she prayed that her love would keep her vow. She wasn't sure how much more she could handle. Now, after weeks maybe months of this Hell of a prison, she had lost that hope and simply prayed for death. She prayed that somehow the Goddess who had given her kind life would find a way to rid her of her immortal gift and allow her to die. The longer the torture went on, the more Amanda began to wonder how her Goddess could allow her child to suffer in this way, how she could turn the other way. Amanda hated that her faith was dying, but really who could blame her? She'd been given so many wonderful gifts- a home, plentiful food and water, time in which she had not been discovered by the humans or her wild brothers and sisters, and, most importantly, she'd been given love. She'd found complete happiness and completion with her soulmate, and then, suddenly, it was gone, taken from her, and nothing was left but pain and despair. And memories. She still had the memories. When she first awoke in the morning or right before she fell asleep at night, she allowed the memories to completely overwhelm her, playing before her eyes as if she was back in those moments and experiencing them for the first time. It was both a comfort, to lose herself and forget for the moment as she relived those times, and even more painful than the torture; when she came back to reality and realized she wasn't with her love anymore, she would sob silently, her heart breaking all over again. At least with the memories, came the affirmation that her lover wasn't there with her and didn't have to suffer the way she had and still would in the future.

The memory that decided to bless/curse her today was of Amanda's first kiss with her love. It replayed over and over; all the perfectness she had felt in the moment coming over her again. She could feel the warmth of the summer sun on her cool, wet body. She could feel the heat of her love's body next to hers. She felt the electricity as their eyes connected and they simultaneously came together. She could feel the tingling in her lips as they met her love's, the wild beating of her heart, the shuttering in her wings. She lifted her hand, the chains clanking, to touch her lips as she tried to savor the ghost of the kiss. And then suddenly, she heard a loud bang- the warning that someone was coming. Amanda began to shake as she realized the day's torture was beginning. She forced her memories from her mind, not wanting anything to soil them, and prayed, as usual, for death to come sometime during the day.

The footsteps grew louder until the voice of her tormenter called, "Good morning my pet!"

Amanda growled at the term even as she huddled farther in the corner, as if that would protect her. The voice just laughed as it came closer but said nothing. Amanda flinched as she heard the jingling of keys, her body quivering. She began to whimper as she heard her cell door unlock. At one point, she had tried not to show any weakness, any sign of pain. But she had been broken and could no longer control what her body did as fear overpowered her; her tormenter would inflict the same amount of torture either way. The door creaked and whined as it opened. Amanda's captor purred, "Ready to begin? I have quite the activities planned for us today."

Amanda simply continued whimpering and shaking curled up in a ball. Then the footsteps rushed forward, and she cried out as her chains were yanked hard, forcing her to uncurl as she was lifted by her chained wrists. She knew struggling was futile, but she couldn't stop her instinct to fight. She snarled and thrashed her body and wings, but with her ankles, wrists, and wings chained together, she could do no damage. Her captor dragged her out of her cage and down the hall a bit until they reached the torture chamber. In the past, Amanda had been chained to a table, to the walls, from the ceiling, bent over a bench, in a small pool of freezing/boiling water, upside down, on her back, on her front, spread eagle, and the list goes on. She had been beaten, burned, branded, whipped, cut, stretched, stabbed, raped, and a number of other things that Amanda had never imagined any living being could do to another. Today, it seemed they would start with Amanda chained to the ceiling, her arms above her head while her legs dangled unable to touch the ground. Only once she was hanging, did she stop fighting and she was left to stare into the face of the recently crowned King, William Lewis.

Her captor spoke again, voice dripping with sick pleasure, "I _love _that you still have fight left in you, pet. It makes this all the more enjoyable to know that I still have time to break you completely. Not to mention the added effect of mystery. Will she break today or will she manage to continue on? If she does, what will be the activity that does it? My imagination is endless pet; I still have many things I want to try as well as the things I want to try again, so you better not die on me before I've had all my fun."

Amanda trembled as his soulless, hazel eyes danced and his spine shivered in pleasure with the prospect. As he turned to hang up his red, satin cloak, Amanda tried to steel herself for the day's torture. Amanda whimpered as the first blade of the day sliced her lower back open. King Lewis liked to start small on some days, as if warming up for the bigger stuff. The slashing moved upwards, covering her whole back before he moved to her torn, broken wings. She sobbed and cried out as the blade cut through the skin, tearing her wings to even smaller shreds. Several times in the past, he had promised that, one day, he would saw them off completely, but it seemed that, while they still had skin left on them, he would leave them on for further torture. Her wings were one of the most sensitive places on her body, and he knew it and took full advantage. Sometime during the cutting of her wings, she'd passed out. Only to return a short time later to the King pouring hot oil down her chest and stomach; he liked to continue torturing her even after she'd blacked out. She screamed as he pressed his hand to the bubbled, burned area harshly and curled his fingers so his nails dug in. He squeezed so hard, she was sure his fingers would puncture her skin and his hand would begin squeezing her insides. When he finally pulled away, she panted as she tried to push through the pain. She only had a few seconds however before he was pouring the oil down her arms. She shouted as it flowed down her arms and dripped on to her head. He continued pouring the oil over her wings. She screamed loud enough to wake the dead before passing out once again. This continued throughout the first half of the day until King Lewis stopped for lunch. Amanda was left dangling from the ceiling, panting and shaking in pain.

Before her time in the dungeon, Amanda might have been able to heal much of the damage done and for the first days she had. Each time King Lewis would leave for lunch or for the night, her body would heal and she'd be almost as good as new for a new day of torment. But now, her body and mind was too exhausted, too hungry, too damaged, and too weak, and now she had to suffer her moments alone with never ending pain. When the King finally return, he quickly returned to business, unchaining her from the ceiling uncaringly and allowing her to drop in a heap to the floor. She groaned as he dragged her across the room and chained her so she was bent over a bench. She knew what he most liked to do to her when she was in this position and began whimpering.

He chuckled. "Maybe I'm becoming too predictable," he mused, "If you already know what's coming, then you'll be able to steel yourself." He paused as he ran a hand down her back, starting from the nape of her neck and sliding down between the shafts of her wings and down until he could scrape his nails across her ass. "But then again. I do so love seeing you like this. I can see why your lover was so enchanted by you; you are such a good little slut." Amanda flinched at the reminder of her love, but thankfully he continued, "Well it _has_ been a few days. And I have been getting ever so worked up. What the hell?" Amanda closed her eyes as she heard him begin to remove his clothes. This was perhaps the worst torture of all after waking from her memories. Every time she and her soulmate had made love, it had been gentle and loving and oh-so-pleasurable; Amanda had never known a feeling like it. But with King Lewis it was nothing but pain. He soiled her, making her feel unclean beyond repair, with his touch. His hands and penis seemed to erase the tingling sensation left by her love only to replace it with rot that festered on her skin. And no matter what she did, she couldn't get it off. He entered her roughly, clearly eager to get himself off. His hands gripped the shafts of her wings, threatening to rip them out, as he pounded relentlessly into her. She knew it only encouraged him but she couldn't help the whimpers and sobs of pain. He moaned joyfully. After a moment, he pulled out only to force himself up her ass hole. She screamed; it had been weeks since he'd last done that so she was tight and unprepared. He pounded into her with a force that rocked her back and forth. She could feel her skin ripping and blood beginning to drip down her thighs. He let go of her wings so he could dig his fingers into the wounds on her back, opening them up again and causing them to ooze blood. She screamed and sobbed and begged him to stop even though she knew he wouldn't. A small puddle of blood formed underneath her by the time he stiffened and came inside her. His seed felt like it was branding her insides. Numbly, and not for the first time, she prayed that she would die down there, because even if she were to be rescued and reunited with her soulmate, she'd be too damaged, too afraid, and too ruined. King Lewis claimed her now in a way that was sickening and irreversible. How would her love ever be able or even want to look at her now?

King Lewis climaxed twice more before he was finally done. As he pulled out, he sighed, "Yah. You are definitely the best little slut I've ever been with. I don't care if it's predictable of not. I will fuck you whenever I damn well please." He patted her backside before gliding his fingers up her inner thigh and over her holes. Amanda could tell by the wet sounds and moans that he was licking the mixture of blood and his seed from his fingertips. Her stomach roiled in disgust and, had she had any food in her, she would've thrown up. He moaned again before continuing with his torture. Today it seemed he was in favor of the small yet agonizing stuff. At least for now. He branded her with his numerous wires and metal prods. He drove several nails into her lower back, leaving them there so that every time she flinched or moved she howled in pain. He used a bamboo cane on her ass and legs. Held a torch under her wings to watch them burn and shrivel. Finally, he unchained her from the bench and moved her to the table, forcing her on her back, her wings dangling between a hole in the center created just for her, her arms and legs spread apart. She watched to see what he planned next. Her body was throbbing, shaking violently, and uncontrollable whimpers left her mouth every few breaths. She watched as his eyes looked her over. Then they lit with an idea.

"As much as I love hearing you scream, my pet. I have an urge to hear what it would be like if you can't." Amanda shuddered with fear as he walked to his table full of his tools of torture. When he turned around, Amanda saw he held two long nails and a hammer in his hands. She flinched as he went to stand above her head and placed one nail down next to one ear. He held it still in one hand while he began to hammer it down with the other, making Amanda flinch with every bang on the nail's head. Then he took the other one and did the same thing. Amanda felt a new wave of terror when she realized she couldn't move her head. He chuckled darkly as she tried to squirm against her bonds. He went back to the table. Amanda heard the hammer get put down but couldn't move her head to see what he was grabbing next. Before she knew it, he was climbing on top of the table to straddle her chest. He sat down on her, making breathing difficult, and showed her the items in his hands. She struggled with all her might when she saw the thread and needle, but he just simply smiled. She watched with wide eyes as he leaned down, bringing the needle closer to her lips. She tried to scream and move away but he grabbed her chin and slammed her mouth shut before quickly piercing her bottom lip. She cried as he punctured her lips over and over, going from bottom to top and pulling the thread tight. He made sure it was thick enough not to be ripped open before pulling away. Amanda was having trouble breathing through her flared nostrils. The King smiled and said evilly, "Bet you won't be able to scream now."

With that, he was unchaining her yet again and pulling her towards the tub that he would fill with either freezing or boiling water. Her feet were shackled to the bottom while her hands were forced behind her back and clipped to the wall of the bowl. Today, the King picked freezing water. She shivered with cold as her feet, fingers, and lips turned blue and her teeth chattered. At first the cold was slightly welcome against her cuts and burn wounds on her arms, stomach, and wings, but the wounds began to ache as she constantly shivered. Amanda could hear him shuffling behind her until finally he crouched next to her. "This is something of my own design," he began, causing her to look over at what he was talking about. It was a shiny box with a wire coming out of it. "Turns out this thing doesn't react well with water. See?" He took one end of the wire and dipped it into the water. Immediately Amanda felt a shock and she flinched. He pulled it out and grinned, "I made it so that it harnesses electricity. I had initially planned to use this a prototype for a bigger generator, one that could power the castle and maybe the city. The small amount of electricity we have now is not very useful. But imagine the possibilities that ran through my mind when I discovered how it reacts with water! Oh, I bet it will be delicious discovering just what kinds of things I can do with this. It'll be a whole new form of torture by water." With that, he dropped the wire back into the water. Amanda's back arched as shock after shock caused her body to convulse. King Lewis' eyes widened with pleasure as he moved the box closer to the water. The shocks increased in pain and Amanda began to twitch violently. Finally, he pushed the box to the edge and over into the water. Amanda screamed, but, because her mouth was sown shut, it came out muffled, and somehow not being able to scream properly made the pain so much worse. She thrashed and convulsed as though having a seizure. Her eyes were wide open and she tried to breathe through her nose but could only get a few small gasps in between convulsions. This pain was the worst she had ever felt. It penetrated deep into her body making her insides squeeze painfully.

Faintly, she heard the door to the dungeon open and a voice called down, "My King! You are needed up here!"

The King groaned in displeasure, but stood up and made his way to his clothes. He dressed and called, "Let's see how long you can survive this, my pet!" With that, he left Amanda alone to be shocked repeatedly. She screamed and screamed and tried to break free. But her body was no longer able to do anything but twitch violently. She wasn't sure how long she'd been like that, but finally she began to feel her body numbing. The convulsing continued but seemed slower and more difficult as her body grew heavier. Her head fell back against the wall and her eyes began to close. She could feel it coming. Death. Her senses were failing, her body weakening; blackness swam around her mind and before her eyes. She was sinking into it. Welcoming it. Thanking the Goddess that She had finally come to her child's aid. She was ready and eager to die so she could escape the Hell she'd been in for the last few months. Suddenly, she felt like she was flying. She was lifted out of the water and into warmth. She sighed as she realized Death had decided to start taking away some of her pain. She heard a voice through the fuzziness in her head. 'Goddess?' Amanda thought, 'Is that you? Have you come to welcome me to the next stage of life?' The voice was still calling to her, and she tried to focus on it. Soon, it became clearer. It was her name being called. Over and over in a frantic yet loving tone. It sounded familiar and filled Amanda with comfort. And then the voice became louder and demanded her full attention.

"Amanda! Come on baby. Please! Please wake up! You can't leave me! Please! I can't live without you. I love you. I need you. Please come back to me."

Amanda pushed open her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she could see someone leaning over her. She blinked once, twice, and the figure grew clear. Amanda felt joy when she recognized the sight of her lover. Her beautiful tanned skin, her shaggy brown hair, her gorgeous brown eyes. She anchored herself onto those eyes, feeling a warmth spread through her. She felt like smiling though she wasn't sure if it was showing on her face; she couldn't feel any part of her body.

"Amanda?" her soulmate gasped.

Amanda opened her mouth, vaguely realizing it was no longer sown shut, to speak but it only came out in a whisper, "Olivia." Amanda smiled as she said the name for the last time. She let all the love she felt for her mate show in her eyes before she finally allowed them to close. The soft arms of Death were open for her, ready to catch her when she fell. And with one last gasp, "I love you", Amanda felt her body sag, her breath leave her, and she fell into Death's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but this story

Note: wow, so I am so please that people are actually interested. Thank you so much to everyone who commented, favorited, and/or followed this story. I know that first chapter was kind rough lol. This chapter like I said goes back in time. The next couple chapters are going to be mostly set up. This chapter explains Liv's life, the next will explain Amanda's, and probably the chapter after that will be when Liv and Amanda finally meet. At least, that's the plan right now. It may change when I actually write it lol. Anyway, like I said this chapter is about Liv's life so I hope, since there's no Amanda yet, it won't be too boring. I had fun writing it if that helps lol

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

A Year Earlier:

Olivia Benson was a creature of habit. Almost every day was the same process. At dawn, she awoke to cook herself a hardy breakfast of scrambled eggs, a few slices of bread, a couple slices of bacon or ham depending on her mood, a piece of fruit, and a tall glass of water. After that, she tended to the chores around her cottage; she tended to be quite a messy person, leaving clothing thrown all over the place and dirty dishes in the sink. Most days, she would just toss the dirty clothes into one pile by her bedroom door so she could wash it all at the same time. Today would be one of those days. Then she dressed in a simple pair of boxers and an undershirt before she went outside to wake up, feed, water, and brush or bathe her beloved horse Coffee, even though a stablehand could easily do it. Then she went back inside to dress in her training clothes. Olivia was a solider, a member of the Kingdom Guard, and the only female currently- a fact Olivia was very proud of and would remind people of when they treated her like she was any other dainty woman. She wasn't the first, but she was certainly one of few to ever join. Before her there had been Jo Marlowe and a few years before that was Anita Van Buren. Both had served admirably and were now retired, but Olivia showed not only them up but most of the male soldiers as well.

Olivia was an Assassin, a title bestowed upon the few soldiers who managed to rip the heart out of the city's most deadly enemy: dragons. For centuries now, the Airian Kingdom had been at war with a scaled, winged, bloodthirsty group of creatures. They lived in the woods surrounding Olivia's city, Airia, and all the nearby cities in the Kingdom and would attack at any and every chance they got. The creatures were the main reason why the Kingdom had an army to begin with since it was at peace with all their neighbors. Since beginning her career, Olivia had five dragon hearts to her name. It doesn't seem like a big number but considering not only the difficulty of completing such a feat but Olivia's young age of only 23, Olivia's accomplishment was astounding. Her best friend Elliot Stabler was an Assassin too with six hearts to his name. The two of them held the record for the youngest soldiers with the most number of hearts. As was tradition, after an Assassin's second heart (so they could be sure the first wasn't just dumb luck or faked), he- or she!- was made a Sergeant, in charge of their own unit in the Guard. At the moment, Olivia, Elliot, John Munch, Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, and Nick Amaro were the Sergeants. Today, they were expected to get together later along with their Chief of the Guard, Donald "Don" Cragen, to make their plans for the nearing warm seasons. It was time for the six cities of the Airian Kingdom to begin trading again now that the cold winds, snows, and too-short days were past. Each Sergeant would lead their own party of soldiers and traders to the other cities where they would stay for a week or two to allow the traders to do their business and to meet with other soldiers and people from those cities. It was during this time that the soldiers and their people were in the most danger from the dragons, the time when each Sergeant had made their kills, but Olivia couldn't wait to get out of the city and into the wild for a while. She loved the thrill of it all. Even those times when they'd been attacked and they had lost people, Olivia loved it; she loved protecting people and killing the dragons who were foolish enough to try to feast from her people. She wasn't bloodthirsty; she just believed in killing them before they killed her people. And the only solid way to kill one of those things was to carve out its heart; any other wound they could heal from, no matter how badly injured they were.

Since the weather was starting to get warmer, Olivia dressed in a simple training outfit of loose pants, a loose shirt, and her leather vest specially made for her since she had become an Assassin; it was brown and tied in the front but the thing that made it special was the patch on the left side of the chest. It was of a fallen dragon with a hole in its chest where its heart should be and, above that hole, the heart was stuck through with a sword that a human shape was holding up proudly. She then secured her sword and one of her knives on her belt while she stashed her other knifes in the sheaths at the legs of her boots and in the small of her back. Even if she was only going to training, she wanted to always be ready in case she had to jump into action. It was a rare occurrence but, once in a blue moon, the dragons tried attacking the city directly instead of waiting for the people to leave the gates. The gates themselves were always protected by watchmen, archers, and other soldiers assigned to pace the walls and keep watch so usually it was the job of the soldiers inside to get people inside their homes or to the town shelters and to attack any dragons that made it past the others.

She was heading for the door of her cottage when she heard a loud knock and a voice call, "Liv! You ready?"

She grinned as she opened the door to see her best friend standing there. "Hey El," she said as she stepped out, closing the door behind her.

As she turned to lock it, Elliot said, "Kathy wanted me to tell you hi."

She turned back around with a smile, "Well you can tell her when you get home that I said hi back. How is she doing?"

"She's good. I'm more nervous than she is to be honest," he said with a sheepish blush.

Liv chuckled and nudged his shoulder with hers. "She and the baby will be just fine. And you'll make a wonderful father." He smiled wider and straightened more at his best friend's confidence. This was to be his and Kathy's first child. They had married last summer and found out they were pregnant a few months later. Kathy was currently six and a half months in. She was excited and couldn't wait to meet their child. Elliot was excited too but it was dampened by his worry. When he wasn't training, he was constantly by Kathy's side, with one eye always on her so he could be there if she needed anything. It was actually pretty adorable in Liv's mind. She was excited for them too and for herself; Kathy and Elliot had asked her to be their child's godmother, and she had immediately said yes. She loved kids, but was unlikely to ever have any of her own, and she loved El and Kathy so she would love their child like it was her own.

Comforted for now, Elliot changed the subject, "So do you have a preference and when and where you'll wanna go this summer?"

Liv shrugged as they neared the training ground, "I don't care that much but I'd like to go to Sundaria at least once. They have the best donuts there."

They both chuckled then Elliot gave her a smirk, "That wasn't all the city had that was the best if I remember correctly."

She pretended to glare at him while punching his arm. But she couldn't hold it for long and laughed with him. "Alright. So maybe I was also hoping to see Alex again. She's good company."

His eyes widened as he scoffed, "The hell she is! She's only slightly better company then the dragons!" He ignored Liv's gasp of protest and dodged her arm as she swung at him again, "You just think she's a panther in the sheets."

Olivia rolled her eyes but couldn't help but say, "More like a lioness." She grinned as she remembered the take-charge blonde. "She was way too dominate and way too loud to be anything else… But that's not the only reason why I wanna go there!"

"Uh huh. Sure," he teased.

It wasn't exactly a secret that Olivia preferred the company of women. She was a little bit more on the slutty-side than she should be proud of and had bedded many women in her time. As a result she had also broken the hearts of many women as well, women who had expected more of a relationship from her rather than the loving and leaving Liv gave them. Many of her former lovers were not exactly quiet about their anger unless they had anything to lose if anyone knew they had slept with another woman and so Olivia's lifestyle was pretty well-known. Most people believed it was wrong for a woman to love another, but because Olivia had done so much for the city and because she was an Assassin, they for the most part left her alone to her own devices.

Alex had known Olivia's reputation before they had met; the Assassin had slept with several woman in Sundaria before her and heard of what a good lover she was. The blonde had sought her out because she was in an unfulfilling relationship with a man named Trevor Langen, the current governor of Sundaria. Her status however made it so that they had to meet in secret. Olivia didn't mind. As far as lovers went, Alex was the best. She had never been with another woman before Liv, but that didn't stop her from taking charge. Olivia had not expected to have her world rocked so roughly and passionately. And yet there were also other times where Alex wanted Liv to take charge or when she was gentle, almost loving. Those times were great too. Neither was in love with the other, but they had grown to know each other quite well both in and out of the bedroom. Olivia could understand why Elliot thought she was a bitch; in most ways she was. She was icy, cold, and harsh on the surface but that was mostly for show. She was the wife of the governor after all; she had to look tough for her city. But Olivia had gotten to know a different side of the blonde. She could still remember how Alex had held her and kissed her after Liv had told her about her mother soon after she had died. Alex hadn't cared that Olivia was the product of rape, that Serena Benson was an abusive drunk, and that Olivia was both devastated and relieved by her death. The blonde had simply comforted her and then loved her slowly and in her almost-loving way. Olivia hadn't even gone to Elliot with her mother's death. Beside him and the other Assassins, Alex was her closet friend; it was only a bonus that they had sex whenever Liv went to Sundaria.

Elliot and Olivia walked to where several of their soldiers were already gathered and warming up for training. The way they did things was, first thing in the morning, Elliot and Olivia's ranks would train. Then, after lunch, Munch and Fin would train their groups. At sunset, they would stop and Nick's group would train as well as those from the other groups who wanted the extra practice. But since today was Meeting Day between the Sergeants and Chief, all the Assassins had told their ranks that training was optional- that they would be there to practice but didn't expect anyone else to show up. Of course, those dedicated enough would show up just like their Sergeants. Elliot and Liv spotted Nick already there but it seemed that Munch and Fin weren't. The newest Assassin was only 19, but he already had a wife and daughter, Maria and Zara. He was young and had a temper at times but he was a good leader who cared more about his men than himself. Nick and Elliot didn't get along very well outside the Guard, but when it mattered they worked well together. Liv never understood why they didn't like each other as they were pretty similar personality wise; she assumed it was a stupid, male-brain driven competition. Both Olivia and Elliot had been made Sergeant at 18, a year younger than Nick, but the young Assassin was fully capable of catching up to or even surpassing their record of five and six at 23. She was proud of her record of course, but she would congratulate anyone who managed to beat it. She smiled and lifted an arm in greeting to Nick, who returned the gesture, before she began to stretch. Since today was a more relaxed day, there was no one in charge, just soldiers practicing the moves they already knew and getting back in shape. The Guard practiced through the winter of course, but not for as long and, if it snowed, sometimes not at all. It was good not to push too hard before the travelling and actual training started; they didn't want anyone risking getting hurt and having to sit out before they even faced the dragons.

After warming up, Olivia and Elliot sparred together, first battling with their swords then with hand-to-hand combat. Fighting a human was nothing like fighting a dragon obviously. But after a few years of battling them, they had realized some weak spots or certain moves that would give the humans the upper hand so, when they battled each other, they went for those spots or did those moves against the other to get the practice. And of course, the fighting just kept their senses and reactions sharp and their muscles strong and ready. The dragons had the benefit of strength, speed, flight, and fire breathing. But the humans had the upper hand of intelligence, weaponry, and agility. They were not equally matched but sometimes that didn't matter. After battling together, they opened the invitation for others to battle them. Fin and Munch had arrived but, besides giving some tips to the younger members, had chosen to supervise. Fin and Munch were both older than Liv, El, and Nick. Fin was 30 while Munch was nearly 50. They both had an impressive record, though they had lost count of the dragon hearts they'd claimed. It was rare that any soldier would live to even reach Munch's age and even if they did, their body would slow and they would have to retire. Munch however was still going strong. He was the best there was. He was the Chief's go-to man though he respected the input of all the Assassins. They had served together when Cragen was just a Sergeant. They had killed many dragons side-by-side and been the best of friends. They had even gotten married to their wives on the same day they were so close. When the previous Chief had gotten gravelly injured by a dragon, the clear choice was between Munch and Cragen. With his dying breath, he had chosen Cragen to succeed him and Munch had warmly congratulated him and supported him. When asked why he hadn't been chosen, he would simply say the right decision had been made. Finally, the sun was directly in the center of the sky and the Sergeants called it a day as they had to get ready for their meeting. They gathered those who had come to train and insisted they go home, rest up, and eat well. There was no telling who would be leaving to make the first trip so everyone should be prepared. Many of the men took the opportunity to head to the city's tavern for lunch and beer. Fin, Munch, Nick, Elliot, and Olivia all headed to their homes to shower and look their best for their Chief.

~~~~SVU~~~~

Olivia both looked forward to and hated going to these meetings. She looked forward to it because she enjoyed talking with the other Assassins about the plans for the trading months, but she hated it because it meant going inside the castle. Airia was the center of the Airian Kingdom and so was the location of the Royals. The King and Queen often stopped by to the Assassins' meeting so that they would have a good understand of what was happening in their city and Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth was nice enough in her own way; she would welcome each Sergeant individually, ask them how they were doing, and invite them to tell the servants should they need anything. She had been born Elizabeth Donnelly, the daughter of the previous governor and governess of another city in the Kingdom called Moondor. She had been chosen to be the King's wife when he came of age- as was the tradition. King Ed Tucker on the other hand was, well, a complete asshole. He thought himself better than everyone and barely looked the Assassins in the eye except when he was criticizing their methods and threatening to force them to retire. Nothing ever came of the threat; he mostly did it because he had expected to be made Chief of the Guard instead of Cragen (or Munch) solely because he was royalty. Later, he'd been made King which sated him, but he was still frustrating as hell. They had had one child, a daughter named Casey. The princess was the nicest of them, always making the Assassins feel welcome. And she was gorgeous. Beautiful green eyes with red hair. She was 20 years of age, soon to be 21, and they would soon be picking her husband for her. Olivia had always had a crush on Princess Casey but would never ruin her by making a move on her even if she thought she'd have a chance.

Another reason Olivia hated going into the castle was that it was so pristine, filled with valuable trinkets and whatnot. Olivia was just a lowly soldier, dirty, sweaty, and smelly most of the time and clumsy when she wasn't in her element that was training and battle. She didn't belong in a castle. It made her feel inferior and small and like she was trespassing even if it wasn't completely unwelcoming. But they were obligated to inform the King and Queen about their plans and so had to meet in the castle so the Royals wouldn't have to leave to be around common people. Before King Tucker, the Chief worked closely with the King as equals for the moment so they could work out how best to protect their city and its people. They looked at problems with two different sets of eyes, shared two opinions, so that every option was weighed and the best one settled upon. But because Tucker was such an ass, Cragen decided everything himself while the King just simply sat by and listened. Sometimes he wouldn't even show up. Cragen relied more on his Sergeants' opinions and suggestions more than Chiefs before him because of that. It seemed to work well enough for them; deaths and injuries were no less or higher than in previous years. But you could tell it weighed heavily on Cragen's mind that the King was so uncaring.

"Welcome Olivia," Chief Cragen greeted the female Assassin warmly as she entered the Meeting Room. "How are you today?"

Olivia smiled, seeing she was the first Assassin to arrive (the six Trade Leaders were already there), and dipped her head respectfully, "Hello Chief. I'm doing pretty well. Eager to get out there though."

Cragen chuckled, "I knew you would be. Hoping to add another heart to your name?"

"Hoping is the wrong word; that would require hoping we get attacked, and I don't want anyone to get unnecessarily hurt or killed. More like open to it," she answered honestly.

He set a hand on her shoulder, "Excellent response. Keep that attitude up and you might be a good Chief one day."

He moved passed her to greet Fin and Munch as they entered the room, leaving her to ponder over his last statement. She was proud of what she had already accomplished and was eager to prove herself even farther, but she had never considered becoming Chief one day. It wasn't that she wasn't sure she'd live long enough to. It was just that it had never crossed her mind. She pushed that train of thought away to be revisited at a later date if necessary and went to take a seat at the round table they used to look at reports and maps of the Kingdom. Fin, Munch, Cragen, and Olivia made small talk while they waited for Elliot and Nick. Elliot arrived not too long after Fin and Munch. Cragen was just about to send someone to see what was taking Nick so long when the dark-haired man rushed in. "Sorry I'm late Chief. Zara fell while playing and scraped her knees up. She wanted me to be the one to give her kisses."

Cragen smiled fondly, "It's alright Nick. Kids don't wait for it to be convenient to cause trouble." Cragen's wife had been killed by a dragon gate-attack before they had been able to have to kids, but Liv always thought he would've made a really good father. He had certainly been a father figure for Olivia. "Now that we are all here, let's begin by reviewing last year's reports. If I recall correctly, the most attacks occurred along the trail between Airia and Moondor?"

For the next few hours, they discussed the profits of last year, where and when the most dragon attacks had occurred, which trails they should take this year, methods to avoid the dragons, and who would be going where and when. For the most part, the six Assassins were in agreement about most things; they all cared more about protecting their people from being attacked in the first place then they did about adding to their number of hearts, so they agreed that they would continue to use the methods already in place. For the most part, unless there was danger or a certain clear path, they would travel through the daytime (when the dragons were too busy sunbathing and sleeping to attack) as quietly as they could. At night, they wouldn't light any fires and they would cover their group with a large canvas that camouflaged them. They would also send two soldiers to mask their scent trail by dumping a circle of bile around them. It was an awful smell, but it seemed to help keep the dragons, whose noses were much more sensitive, away. When it came to which trails they should take, they lightly argued over which ones would be best. They tried to stick with the same path if attacks were low, but they had at least three trails to each city that they could rotate if need be. Eventually, each Assassin had their plan. Olivia was pleased that she would be getting the first journey to Sundaria. Last summer, there had only been one attack during her trips there so it was decided that she would take the same path. Elliot would also be the first to leave, heading towards Moondor. Both of them were given two weeks to get there, complete the trade, and come back. When they returned, Nick and Munch would head for their cities, Telemete and Sarim respectively. After their two weeks, Fin and Liv would leave, Fin for the final city Abba and Liv for Sundaria again. And so they would rotate like that until summer's end. Each city had something unique to offer and each trade would make it so that each city got something from all the other cities.

It was towards the end of their meeting when the King, Queen, and Princess stopped by. They all behaved as was expected and, once pleasantries were exchanged, the Queen left to attend to other issues while the King got filled in by Cragen. This time, however, Olivia was pleasantly surprised to get some extra attention from Princess Casey. The red head smiled warmly as she came to greet the Assassins but her eyes kept returning to Liv. "So Olivia. When and where will you be heading this summer?" she asked curiously.

"Oh. Uh," Liv stammered, unused to having Casey's focus solely on her, "I'm taking the first leave the day after tomorrow to Sundaria… P-princess."

"Please. There's no need for that," she said about the formality of adding her title. "And oh! Is that where we get those delicious pastries?" Casey asked excitedly.

Olivia couldn't help but smile, "Donuts! Yes!"

"Good. Make sure you bring back some extra for me. But don't tell anyone. Mother and father only allow me a couple throughout the whole season! Can you believe that?"

If Olivia didn't know better, she would think Casey was flirting with her as she slid to stand close to Olivia as she whispered for her not to tell anyone. "No I can't Princess," Liv tried to keep it professional.

Casey rolled her eyes with a smile as she stroked Liv's arm, "Olivia please. Call me Casey. Or at least just don't call me Princess."

'Yah. She's almost definitely flirting,' Liv thought to herself. "So-sorry. Habit and all that," she explained.

Casey grinned before changing the subject, "Actually I was also wondering if you could pass along a message to the governess."

"Alex?" Liv asked interested.

Casey nodded, "Yah. Last time she and her husband visited she was lovely to me and we got to talking. I'd like to think we became friends. I have this letter for her that I was wondering if you could give to her. I know I could just send it with the rest of the city's mail, but we both know it could take weeks to get to her if it even gets there at all."

Olivia nodded, "I would be honored to do that for you… Casey."

The red head seemed to glow as Olivia used her name. She pulled her letter out from her dress and handed it to her, "Thank you so much Olivia. You're very kind." She took Liv into a hug that shocked the brunette so much she didn't have time to make herself hug back before the Princess pulled away. "Well, good luck on your travelling. I will pray that you will arrive there and back safely." With that, she made a quick exit.

"What the hell was that about?" Elliot whispered in her ear a moment later.

Olivia shrugged, "I have no idea."

Once the King was fully up-to-date, he left without so much as a goodbye and the meeting drew to a close. The Traders all thanked the Assassins for their protection and leadership and confirmed that they would all get their own men ready for travel before they headed out. Cragen warmly wished Liv and Elliot a good journey and told them to rest up before they left. The five Sergeants left while Cragen organized his papers. They knew that it was highly likely most of their men would still be at the Tavern and they headed there. They could hear the ruckus from around the corner and, as soon as they entered, were greeted with welcome cheers and toasts. They called for quiet, and Liv and Elliot informed them that their groups would be the first to leave the day after tomorrow, that they should rest, gather all their supplies, and be prepared to leave at first light for Sundaria and Moondor. Their men cheered again as they shouted that they'd be ready. Then several soldiers jumped to buy their Sergeants drinks and soon they were all laughing and drinking hardily. They were all both nervous and excited for their journeys so it was fun to just drink, goof around, and forget the importance of their jobs for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: lather rinse repeat

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Out in the forest, life was awakening with the light of the sun. Birds were chirping as they searched for worms and seed. Rodents were scurrying to their holes. All the nighttime animals were burrowing deeper in their nests as they welcomed their time to sleep. Which was a very good thing as the oddest thing in the forest began to awaken in her cottage. Amanda's nose and eyes twitched as a ray of sunlight moved across her face. She groaned quietly as she opened her eyes, uncurled from the balled-up shape she slept in, and began to stretch. She could've sworn she'd only just closed her eyes; she felt like she only slept for a few minutes. But she knew that to be false as she had checked the position of the moon when she'd checked her property one last time before she curled up in her nest. It had been a little after moonhigh, and had she not been so tired from taking advantage of the warm weather, she probably would've stayed up for another hour or so. Despite living in a cottage and the precautions she took to make sure she was as safe and hidden as possible, she still hated to leave herself vulnerable. And who was more vulnerable than a sleeping creature? Amanda only stood up after she felt all the bones in her body pop. She stumbled sleepily over to the other corner of the cottage where she kept her clothes. She didn't have a lot, only a few shirts and pants, but she didn't need a lot; it was just her after all. She dressed before setting about her usual routine. She went outside and stood in the sun for a minute. Closing her eyes, she smiled and sighed contently. The winter had been long and cold. She hated the winter; the closest bodies of water froze, prey was harder to find, and the neighbors got… antsy. But now that the earth had thawed and was warming and blossoming again, life in the forest would once again reach its peak. Amanda opened her eyes and gave the muscles at her back a silent command that was immediately answered. Uncurling from the skin of her back came her wings. Seven feet long from shaft to wingtip, her wings were dark blue in color with thin flaps of skin, sharp claws at the middle joints, and scaled skin covering the bones of the shafts. Amanda rumbled happily as the warmth of the sun warmed them as she extended them to their full lengths. They didn't look like much, but they were powerful and could make her speed through the air at incredible speeds. As if to prove to anyone wondering about that statement, she gave one strong flap and shot into the air. She zoomed up into the clouds before shifting so she was horizontal to the ground now way below her. She loved the feeling of the clouds, the air, everything whizzing by her. She loved the exhilaration. She knew it was stupid, unsafe, reckless; anyone or anything could see her. But she couldn't help herself. She needed to fly just as much as she needed to eat and breathe if not more. It was as much a part of her as her wings or limbs were; it was in her heart.

First thing in the morning was the only safe (well the safest) time to fly. It was when most people were either just waking up or still sleeping. Though she lived far enough away where they probably couldn't see her anyway. The dangerous creatures who shared the woods with her would be taking advantage of the warm morning sun, thawing their own bodies which had probably gotten cold overnight. The dragons after all were cold blooded and needed to warm up before they could cause any chaos. Amanda had lost track of how long it had been like that. Centuries at least. But she could remember the days when it hadn't been like this, when the dragons had been peaceful creatures. She had been born during those days and could remember playing with her mother and father and sister and all the others. They were a family, all of them. But it hadn't always been that way nor would it stay that way.

_See, a long time ago, dragons were much different. They were huge, flying, firebreathing creatures. They lived in caves, in the mountains, in the lakes and oceans, in the forests. They weren't the most nonviolent creatures- they had big appetites and sometimes the game in their habitats wasn't enough. They hunted the people's herds and sometimes the people themselves. But only if the people were threatening them or their young or it seemed there were too many of them. They also raided their cities and towns for their riches. The dragons needed anything made of metal, gold, silver, bronze, or any other natural elements; they ate those things because it made their scales stronger, thicker, and shinier. Dragons and humans were enemies and neither would let the dragons forget it. Any chance the humans got, they would kill a dragon. Sometimes, they would go out of their way to kill them; they'd ban together to corner them in their own homes. They would follow a dame dragon back to her nest and kill her young while they were unprotected. Even when the dragons backed off and stopped stealing their herds and treasure, the humans still hunted them. It became a sport for them, a way to show off for other humans and earn them fame. It got so bad that the dragons' numbers began to die; they surely would've gone extinct. But one day, a young dragon dame whose hatchlings had just been killed stumbled upon a group of humans in the process of beating a young wizard to death. Legend tells that she had planned to keep going; humans had just murdered her children so why should she bother to save one? But then she saw how young he was. Barely a teenager. He reminded her of her own children, killed before they had properly seen the world, had gotten to learn how to hunt or fly. She couldn't bear to see another young life snuffed out, so she intervened. She fought the humans and chased them away. When she turned back to the boy, he looked up at her with both fear and relief. She held out her tail like human would his hand to help him stand and he slowly took it. He was bloody and sore, but nothing seemed broken. The dragon was about to turn away when the boy spoke in rocky Drakkane (the language of the winged creatures). "Thank you," he said._

_The dragon looked at him in shock, "You… you can speak our language?"_

_The boy nodded, "I studied many language."_

_She chuckled slightly at his poor tone but appreciated it. She dipped her head to address his first statement, "You are welcome. What did you do to deserve such treatment?"_

_He shrugged, "I have no knowledge of why. They told me I was an… oddity for my magic."_

"_Well if it helps, this dragon thinks your magic is a gift that you should use with pride." The boy grinned happily with the praise. After a moment's pause, the dragon spoke again, "Well. I best be on my way. Be careful on your way home."_

_As she turned, the boy cried, "Wait!" When she turned back, he spoke, "I wish to… give you thanks for saving me."_

_She looked at him in confusion, "How?"_

_He tilted his head, "Well, what do you want?"_

_The dragon immediately thought of her children, of bringing them back to life, of bringing them back to her. But then logic kicked in. Humans were more dangerous than ever. Even if they were brought back to life, there was no telling how long they'd live, if they'd even make it to adulthood. She couldn't bear to lose them all over again. What she really wanted was the old life of peace they use to live. The life without fear of humans killing them to extinction. But how could they get that back? Speaking out her idea, she said slowly, "The humans are hunting us to extinction. I wish for my kind to be able to live without being afraid anymore."_

_The boy smiled, "I think I have an idea." Without further explanation, the boy began to twirl his hands and a sparkling light that was full of color began to swirl around them. The light grew and grew until he flung it at her. She watched in awe as it illuminated her whole body and made it tingle. Then she began to shrink, and her colors changed. Her green scales paled until they matched the pinkish color of the boy. Her claws shrank into her fingers and toes, her fangs into her gums. Her tail and ridges followed. Slowly, painlessly, the dragon dame became a beautiful human woman. Her hair was golden blonde and flowing behind her. The boy had even been kind enough to cloth her so she wouldn't reveal her curvy body and full breasts. She looked down at her new body with wide eyes, eyes that had stayed green with slitted pupils, before looking back to the boy. Quickly, before she could snap at him, he explained, "I created it so that you can have the form of a human OR a dragon anytime you want. It help you to blend in but also give you chance to be your true self."_

_She stared at him as the words sunk in. "What about the others?"_

_He began to twirl his hands once again with that colorful light. He stepped forward to grasp one of the dragon's hands. The light transferred from his hand to hers then he stepped away. She held the hand in front of her face until the light died. Once again, the boy explained, "Now any dragon you touch will possess this power too."_

"_This is remarkable," she breathed, "Thank you."_

_They parted and the young wizard never told another soul of the gift he had given the dragons. The dragon dame touched as many dragons as she could until every possible dragon was saved. Some dragons went to live among humans while others went back to their old homes. Many however decided to form their own villages, living together, protecting each other, and teaching their young how to go between forms. The humans thought they'd killed all the dragons and celebrated. The dragons learned the humans' language and set up trades with their villages- learned their ways (like how each one had a name for example) and adopted the humans' ways as their own. For years, the humans had no idea that the new villages were anything but human. It was one of these dragon villages that Amanda was born into. It was during a time of peace. Amanda knew nothing other than the love of her family and the rest of the dragons, eating well, and living without fear. But that all changed during Amanda's teenage years._

_She was out exploring, flexing her wings and legs by hunting and flying low, when she heard a strange cry coming from nearby. Changing into human form, she went to investigate. She moved silently through the trees until the noise got louder. Cautiously, she crawled behind a bush and peeked out. Crawling along the ground towards the river with what was clearly a broken leg and a large, bleeding head wound was a human man. Amanda looked closer; she had never seen a real human before. She knew the only physical difference between true humans and the dragons' human form was that the dragons had slitted pupils rather than round. But still, she was curious. She also wondered how the man came to be this far into the forest wounded as he was. She could neither see nor smell a horse or other humans and from the trail of blood and drag marks behind the man he'd been crawling along for a while at least. Finally as Amanda watched, the man collapsed, running out of energy a few yards away from the water's edge. He panted heavily and groaned in pain. Amanda bit her lip in indecision. Dragons were always told to be careful; they were in hiding for a reason. The humans could not be trusted. But Amanda hated seeing another being in such pain. Even when she hunted, she killed her prey swiftly and painlessly, thanking the Goddess for their life and the meal they would provide. She wanted to help. And really, what could be the harm? If she stayed in human form, she could bandage him up and send him on his way and he would be none the wiser. One more long, pained groan convinced her and she jumped forward._

_Hearing the rustle, he looked to her, trying to pull out his weapon, but he was too weak. Amanda held up her hands. "Easy," she said softly, "I just want to help."_

_He looked at her warily, clearly trying to make a decision. "There's no need. I'm fine," he said unconvincingly._

_Amanda lifted one eyebrow, "You're clearly exhausted. And dehydrated. Your head is bleeding, and your leg is severely broken. I don't see any horse or people with you so, no matter why you're out here, you're clearly alone with no one else to help you. So if you won't allow me to help you, what is it you think you'll do?"_

_He stared at her in silence for a moment before relaxing. "Fine," he conceded._

_Quickly she moved forward to begin helping him. She gently pulled him to the water and cupped the water in her hands. She allowed him to drink his fill before she washed his head wound. Ripping a strip from his shirt, she wrapped that around his head and tied it. She looked down at the leg which was slightly bent in an unnatural way at the knee and cringed. She would have to rebreak it and set it so it would have its best chances at healing. She looked around and spotted a few branches that would be good supports. She went to them before ripping a few more strips from both their shirts. She looked to his face and said, "This is going to hurt, but it is necessary. I need to set your leg straight before I can bind it."_

_He flinched but nodded bravely, "Do what you must. I need my leg."_

_She nodded and guided him to sit a little straighter against a boulder. She gripped his leg with one hand just above the knee and one just below. "Take a deep breath," she told him a she braced to rebreak his leg. She heard him inhaled and quickly counted, "3, 2, 1!" On 1 she pulled her hands in opposite directions causing a loud snap in the man's bones. He gripped the ground, arched his back, and screamed his pain to the forest. Amanda hoped none of her family was close enough to hear as she wrapped his leg with the splints and cloth strips. When his screams died as the pain lessened, she offered him more water which he gratefully accepted as he sagged against the boulder. He closed his eyes and she thought he'd fall asleep._

_But after a few moments, he opened his mouth and said, "Thank you for helping me."_

_Amanda smiled, "You're welcome. Where were you heading when this happened?"_

"_I was heading to the Airian Kingdom."_

"_Alone?"_

"_Well, I had my horse. But he bolted when a snake fell onto the path in front of him. The idiot is terrified of them," he chuckled and Amanda smiled, "He went crazy. I fell off, broke my leg, hit my head on a rock, passed out, woke up, tried to get to the river, and now here I am." He and Amanda chuckled before he asked, "So why are you out here? Are you one of those crazy people who live out here in the woods?"_

_Amanda laughed, "Actually yes I am. But I can assure you, I'm just as sane as you are."_

"_Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't-"_

_Amanda shrugged, "It's fine. I know you didn't mean it in a bad way."_

_He gave her a crooked grin which Amanda found herself enchanted by. Then his brow furrowed, "How come your eyes look like that?"_

_Amanda felt a flash of terror. He was about her age so there was no way he knew anything other than whatever stories he'd heard in his city, but was that enough to figure her out? She refused to let her fear show as she lied, "When I was an infant, I got a bad eye infection. My dad says, when I healed, my eyes looked like this because God wanted me to have my sight and so He changed them."_

_The man shrugged, "The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes. So what's your name?"_

"_Amanda. Yours?"_

"_Dean Porter," he grinned._

"_Well it's nice to meet you. So how's about we try to get you home?"_

_He grimaced, "Well alright. I guess I can't stay out here with a broken leg for long huh?"_

"_Well, it would be best to see an actual doctor, but that should be good enough for now." She motioned to the splints. "Which way did your horse run?" Amanda looked around hoping to see the four legged creature or smell it._

"_He's probably long gone. Do you have a horse?"_

_Amanda frowned. Could she go to her village, get a horse unseen or make a believable enough excuse, and get back here without incident? She didn't think so. She lied again, "My father took the horse hunting with him."_

"_Hope the horse knows how to use a bow," Dean joked making Amanda laugh and roll her eyes. Then he sobered, "Alright. I'll walk. I may need help though."_

"_Oh right," Amanda quickly leaned down and helped him to his feet. He draped one arm around her shoulders and leaned against her so he could hop on one leg. She wrapped an arm around his waist and tried not to purr at the hard muscles she felt there. Being a dragon, she had no problem supporting most of his weight. "Ready?" He nodded, his face looking like he was reining in his courage to face the coming pain. She start forward slowly at first so he could get used to the awkwardness. When he seemed okay, she increased the pace. When he looked at her confused she explained, "The Airian Kingdom is still a couple hours away, but in this state it'll take longer and I want us to get there before dark."_

"_Good idea." They travelled in companionable silence for a while before Dean said, "Alright. I think talking helped distract me from the pain, so let's talk."_

_Amanda smiled, "What about?"_

_And so they talked about everything, both about their lives (though Amanda lied about a lot of her story) and simple meaningless things. And finally, the city gates were in sight. Amanda led him to the path before stopping and handing him a long, thick stick he could use to help him walk, "You good from here?"_

_He took the stick but looked at her in confusion, "You're not coming in?"_

_Amanda shook her head, "No. I have to get back home before my family worries."_

"_Oh. Right," he sounded disappointed, making Amanda's heart twitch. Then he said, "Well can I see you again?"_

_She knew it wasn't a good idea; in fact, it was incredibly stupid. The more time she spent with a human, the more the risk of her being discovered. But the way he was looking at her, so hopeful and excited yet with a fear of being rejected, she knew she couldn't say no. "Sure," she smiled. "But first you gotta get that leg properly looked at and started healing. How 'bout I meet you out here in a fortnight?"_

_He grinned brightly, "Okay! Great! I'll see you then! And thank you again for everything Amanda."_

"_You're welcome Dean." She watched as he hobbled to the city's entrance. Then he turned around and waved. She waved back with a smile. He walked inside and Amanda turned and began to run. As she sped through the trees, she shifted into dragon form and flew the rest of the way home. She stopped by the river and bathed quickly so her family wouldn't smell human on her. When she walked into her town, everything seemed normal and no one asked her about her smell. She was pleased she'd gotten away with her activities and hoped that the luck would last._

_Amanda and Dean met a fortnight later and spent the day together, sitting around and talking. They met every week after that, doing the same thing because Amanda didn't want Dean to hurt his leg again. When it healed a few months later, they would walk around the forest, go swimming in the river, and hunting together. Their feelings blossomed and it wasn't long after that when they shared their first kiss. Amanda knew she was in love but it felt wrong to keep lying to him. She remembered the story of the dragon dame and wizard. He hadn't reacted badly, and maybe Dean wouldn't either; maybe some humans could be trusted. Amanda hoped he was one of them. One day, when Amanda and Dean were getting ready to make love, Amanda stopped him._

"_What?" he questioned worriedly, "What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing is wrong. It's just… I have to tell you something… I really love you, you know that right?"_

_He nodded but still looked concerned, "Of course. I love you too."_

_She stood up, "I hope you still feel that way when I tell you this… Look Dean. I've been lying to you. Well not lying exactly just… omitting the truth- the truth about the real me."_

"_What do you mean?" he questioned as he stood up too._

_She took a deep breath and said, "Dean, I'm… I'm not human. I'm a dragon."_

_For a moment he looked at her. Then he burst out laughing, bending over to hold his stomach as he laughed so hard he started to cry. When he could breathe enough he gasped, "Yah. Okay. And I'm a fairy."_

_Amanda glared, "I'm serious Dean!"_

_He laughed again, "Amanda. Not only do you not look like a dragon, but all the dragons are dead. They were killed. Years ago."_

"_No. They weren't. We just found a way to hide."_

_A flicker of doubt lit in his eyes the longer she stayed serious, but he still looked mostly unconvinced. "You're crazy," he said._

_In answer, Amanda stepped back and shed her clothes. She called upon the power she'd been born with and changed within a few seconds into her dragon form. None of them were as large as they once were, but they were still bigger than the humans, at least three times so. Amanda's skin turned into true blue scales, darker than her eyes but not as dark as her wings which she spread out to stretch before settling them against her back. Her four legs were ended with long, sharp, black claws and her tail was long- longer than most dragons. Her head was crowned with two short, sharp, black horns. By dragon standards, she was beautiful, but to Dean, she was horrifying. His eyes were wide with terror, and he looked like he wanted to run but was just too scared to. Quickly, she changed back, hoping to ease him. He just stared. She gave him a moment until she couldn't take it anymore. She took one step forward as she said quietly, "Dean."_

"_No!" he shouted as he backed away. "NO! Don't come near me! You're a freak! What the hell Amanda?"_

_She flinched and looked down, "I'm sorry. My people, they just didn't know what else to do and so we hid so we could survive."_

"_You deserved to die!" he spat, "All of you! You're monsters! Oh my God, I was about to fuck a monster."_

_She winced again at that, "Dean."_

"_No! You're a monster Amanda!"_

"_No I'm not!" she protested, looking him in the eye, "I've never killed a human, my family have never killed any humans, most of my people have never killed a human- only the old ones who were alive during that time. I saved you that day you fell off your horse. You would never have made it far or survived the night. The wolves would've picked you off or you would've starved to death. But I saved you! And now I love you."_

_His lip curled in disgust. "If I had known what you are, I would've preferred death rather than to have a monster save me."_

"_Don't say that."_

"_I hate you!" he growled. He grabbed his shirt and put it on before reaching for his weapon belt. He didn't pull his weapon but he wanted to. He growled again, "The fact is, you did save me. I'm indebted to you. So I won't kill you." She felt a flicker of relief. But then he said, "But I will take you to town where you'll be punished." Before she could respond, he surged forward and swung his fist at her. She felt pain at the side of her head before she blacked out._

_When she woke, she was chained in a cell and she could hear voices. She felt weak and pained. Her body felt odd and her head felt fuzzy. She groaned and the voices stopped. Then she heard a voice by her ear, one she recognized. Dean said low and dangerous, "I want you to suffer for what you did to me. You made me fall in love with a monster, and so I want you to die. But instead, I've chosen to protect my people by killing yours. You've been infected with a specially made disease; it only affects your kind. We've found your village and plan to drop you off there. It shouldn't take too long for the disease to spread and kill every last one of you. You'll live, but who knows how long. I guess in a way I should be grateful, without you, we would've continued living with monsters as our neighbors. But now we can kill them without risking ourselves. So thanks."_

_She felt pain and was out again. She woke up back home. She felt better than before, stronger and healthier, but still her skin felt itchy and irritated, different somehow. She immediately tried to leave, but it was too late. She'd been home for nearly a week and already many were sick. She discovered that her family all believed she'd been kidnapped and infected randomly, and she was too cowardly to tell them otherwise. Instead, she watched in guilty silence as the sick fell sicker and the healthy fell ill. None of them could shift anymore; they were stuck in human form so they knew they were all infected. They didn't know what would happen but what had was definitely not what they thought. One day, some of the sick's skin turned scaly and their wings shot out of their back. Their slitted eyes turned completely black. Their fingers and hands turned into half-dragon, half-human looking hands with long blacks claws. The same with their legs. Their faces half changed so they had slightly longer jaws and long, sharp fangs that stuck out of their mouths. Their tails shot out. They looked like a sick combination of dragon and human but mentally they were neither. Both humans and dragons had thoughts and control. These new creatures didn't. They snarled and attacked anything in sight, including those who had been taking care of them, those they considered family. They were suddenly angry, bloodthirsty, unthinking beasts. Those who were injured turned into these creatures as well and fought loudly and viciously though it seemed that no matter how badly wounded they were, they would not die. The still healthy-enough dragons attacked as well without getting too close for fear of changing themselves. They turned to bows and arrows, catapults, and other long-range weapons. Still nothing would kill them. They were bleeding heavily, burned, maimed, but nothing worked. Eventually, the beasts flew away into the woods, spreading the infection._

_Amanda had to watch in horror as more and more turned into these beasts. She watched as the infection took first her mother, then her father, then her sister. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She ran. The beasts that were once her family surrounded her, hunted her. She fought them off and kept going until she found a cabin- her cabin. It was empty and in good enough condition. She hid inside and waited for the day where she would become one of them. Days passed then weeks then months. She wanted the emotional pain, the guilt to stop, to join her family in their darkness. But it never happened. Months became years and years became decades. She fended for herself, adjusted to her new life, the guilt and grief never leaving. Eventually, her own wings popped out of her back, and she thought that meant it was her time. But nothing else happened. And nothing else would happen. It seemed Amanda was cursed, left to slowly lose herself to the illness she had been the one to infect her people with. She was left to live in solitary loneliness with her never-ending, well-deserved guilt with her beastly family constantly around, threatening and reminding her of her sins._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: meow meow meow

~~~~SVU~~~~

Eventually Amanda had gotten used to the loneliness and the guilt. It was like a parasite living on her shoulder and never letting her forget. Every time she saw them or heard them, her guilt would flare even after all this time, but she accepted it. It was her punishment for being so stupid, for falling in love with a human and revealing herself to him. She had known it was a risk but she had done it anyway. She deserved what happened to her even if her family didn't. She just hoped that there wasn't a small part of them existing inside those beasts, seeing the carnage they cause and wishing they could stop themselves. Her family didn't deserve to suffer for her mistakes. Amanda turned around and flew back towards her home. She landed gracefully in front of her home and started her "chores". She walked around the perimeter of her property and checked on the fence. She had built it herself not to keep out the dragons but to mark her territory to them. They could burst through or over it but for the most part didn't. She marked it with her scent by dumping her chamber pots around it. The dragons may be unthinking, but they did run on instinct. And instinct told them to mark their territory as well as stay out of others'. Few things could kill the beasts, but they could still get wounded and none of them particularly wanted that. Amanda was enough of a beast herself that they obeyed her scent markers. Usually. She had just marked it the night before so she wouldn't need to mark it again until the scent faded. Next, she went to the small barn that she used as a shed and retrieved her bow and arrow. She had a cellar that she sometimes used to store food, but she normally used that over winter. She preferred fresh prey.

She ran through the forest, flapping her wings behind her to give her extra speed. She almost loved this feelings as much as flying. She really didn't have to travel so far since there was prey everywhere, but she wanted the extra workout, the extra time and feeling of warm weather. She ran until she reached her favorite clearing. She was feeling rabbit today so she went to a nearby tree and climbed up it. She settled along the branch and crouched, unmoving, listening for the sound of the right heartbeat. She could hear plenty of mice and other rodents as well as birds and deer. And then she heard it. It was coming her way. She looked down into the tall grass, waiting to spot the light brown coat. She didn't have to wait long. Moving slowly and silently, she raised her bow and loaded an arrow into it. She pulled it back and aimed expertly. She let the arrow fly and watched as it hit its mark. The rabbit didn't even feel it as it pierced right through its heart. Quickly, she swooped down and scooped up her kill. It was a nice big one, not quite fat but definitely with enough meat on its bone for her to be full until dinner. Another thing she would've done in winter was make a second kill so she wouldn't have to go out again later. But in the summer, she was outside all day and would look forward to going hunting again.

She went back home slower than before, running without the added effect of her wings. Always she was listening for the sound of her family. She was always prepared for an attack. She didn't stand much of a chance against them but she was highly skilled with defensive actions. She always had a machete with her and she could also use her bow and arrow if she needed. But mostly she would choose to outrun them, lead them away from her home and head towards the river where she could stop them from following her scent. The smell of the water for some reason distracted them and messed up their senses. She passed over her own scent markers without incident and set about making a fire in her pit. Her beast side called for raw, bloody meat, but Amanda refused to give in to that craving. She cooked her meat and ate it sitting on a chair in front of her house. She even ate some fruits and vegetables that she either grew herself or picked from nearby trees. When she was full, she tended to her garden and her house, repairing some of the damage the tough winter had caused. She had a hole in her roof that needed patching first and foremost. Luckily that had happened late in the winter so she hadn't had to deal with snow coming in, but she couldn't risk any rain coming in. After so many years of living alone and repairing her home by herself, she was pretty handy. There had been tools in the barn when she'd found it and anything else she needed she had found (stolen but she didn't like to think of it like that) from traveling humans. She still had a few planks of wood that she had made herself last year since she always liked to be prepared in case something happened during the winter. She would probably need more but for now, she'd just use those. She set about her work, laying down the planks and hammering them down. The hole hadn't been too big so it didn't take too long, perhaps an hour or a little longer. Next she fixed her door which had fallen off one of the hinges and then several more things. It was when she was sweeping the rotting hay from the barn floor when she had an epiphany.

She was bored. Really, REALLY bored. She had done the same things over and over for years. Her summers were the same; her winters were the same; the activities she'd done between summer and winter and winter and summer were the same. Just over and over and over again, and Amanda was suddenly aware of that. She needed something new to do or see. Something exciting without the risk of being discovered or getting hurt. But what? She looked up at the late afternoon sun and thought. Suddenly, she thought of something. She remembered this one beverage she had shared with Dean all those years ago. What had he called it…? It was delicious. It made her throat burn at first, her body feel warm, and her head spin. What the hell was it? Rum! That was it! Rum. She wanted some rum. But how could she get some? She flew up to her roof and looked out of the trees. If she remembered correctly, the Airian Kingdom was about a five day trip to the south. Since it was warm now, the trade would be starting back up. If she played it right, she could find a trade group, wait for them to sleep, and raid their stuff for that delicious liquid. Amanda smiled. It was just the kind of stupid, reckless thing she would do. It would definitely be exciting, and if she was lucky she'd get rum out of it. Yes, she liked this idea. She looked to the sky again. It was too late to head out now. She'd leave first thing in the morning. Excitedly, she jumped from the roof and quickly set about getting ready to leave. She renewed her scent markers, packed a change of clothes, and readied her weapons. She watched as the sun set changed the color of the sky from shades of orange and pink to the blueish-black of night before curling up in her nest so she could have a good night's rest.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Olivia had hardly slept last night. She was too eager to get going. She had probably gotten only a couple hours of sleep, but as she woke up that morning she hardly noticed. She quickly got dressed in her traveling clothes, which weren't much different from her training clothes though a little more suited for the journey in that they were a little thicker. She put on her Assassin vest and draped her leather jacket over her arm before sliding and lacing up her shin-length boots. She completed her outfit with her belt of weapons and all her knives. She locked up her home (though she knew Nick would be in to check on things while she was gone; he had a key as did all her fellow Assassins) and quickly went to the barn. Coffee clearly had sensed all the excitement in addition to the change in season and was awake and dancing anxiously in her stall. "Hey baby," Liv cooed. "You look like you're ready to go. That's my girl."

She had spent much of her time the day before getting Coffee and her things ready to go; she had stretched the muscles in all of Coffee's legs by lifting them up and pulling them gently while she massaged them. Then she had saddled her up and took her to the ring. She let Coffee walk around the outside at a walk for a while before bringing her to a trot and then to a canter. She set up some jumps to jump over and when she felt Coffee was all stretched out and good to go, she got off, took off her saddle and bridle, and hopped back up. While she rode bareback, Liv let her horse gallop as fast as her heart desired around the ring. She knew how much Coffee loved to run, loved the speed and exhilaration of it, even while her human was on her back maybe more because of that. Liv enjoyed it too; she loved just griping onto the soft mane, closing her eyes, and putting trust in her horse while she felt the wind wiz by her. She let Coffee run until she slowed herself to a walk. Horse and rider sluggishly moved along as they cooled down. Then Liv hopped off and picked up her things. Coffee, ever the loyal being, followed Liv without needing to be told. She dropped off the saddle and bridle before leading Coffee down to the wash stall. She used the hose to fill a bucket with water so her horse could drink while she went for the horse soap and grooming supplies. She had lovingly, thoroughly washed her horse and fed her a meal of the usual grain as well as several apples. Then had brushed her beloved mare's coffee-brown coat, mane, and tail. She had braided her tail into a short length so it wouldn't snag on anything during her travels. She had washed the saddle, bridle, and flank bags. By the time she was done, the sun was setting. "Alright love. Tomorrow's the big day so rest up. I'll be back in the morning." Coffee moved her head in almost a nod, like she understood. And maybe she did. Liv smiled, patted her forehead, and kissed her nose before heading to her own bed.

Now, she took her time making sure Coffee was comfortably saddled and bridled. Once she was satisfied, she smiled, "Lookin' good girl. You're gonna turn heads in Sundaria's barns." She chuckled as her horse seemed to stand up a little straighter. "Alright. Don't go gettin' a big head. I need that head to stay in the game." Coffee dipped her head as if in apology and Liv nuzzled her nose with her own. "Come on. Let's go see if everyone else is ready." Coffee followed as Liv led the way towards the front gates. She was pleased to see many of her men as well as Elliot's either already waiting there for her or heading that way. As she approached many smiled and dipped their heads respectfully as they greeted her. She greeted them back before looking for Elliot. She spotted him leading his own horse towards the gathering group. When he looked to her, they smiled. When he reached her, she asked, "So you ready?"

He nodded, "I am. It's hard to leave Kathy though."

"She'll be fine. She's got lots of people looking out for her. You know Fin, Munch, and Nick will check in on her so much she'll probably get sick of them."

He chuckled, "Yah. She'll probably try to ban them within the first few days. She's been pretty mood-swingy lately."

Liv laughed, "Well yah. What did you expect?"

He rolled his eyes with a smile before he said, "Alright alright. Enough about me and my getting sick of my heavily pregnant wife in a totally loving sort of way." They shared another laugh. They waited a little longer so they could give all their men enough time to get there. The traders were all there and ready. Finally, she and Elliot had decided they'd waited long enough and they climbed atop their horses. Seeing their leaders do this, their men followed suit. Liv and Elliot walked to the entrance and Elliot called up, "Cassidy! Open the gates!"

Liv watched as Brian Cassidy, the man in charge of the gate's guard, saluted them before moving to the wheel that would lift the door. As he started turning it and the door began to move upwards, Olivia and Elliot looked at each other with a smile that silently wished the other luck for a good journey and to come home safe. Then they looked to their men and Liv called, "Is everyone ready?"

A loud, excited call of "Hoorah!" answered her.

She and El grinned proudly before she ordered, "Form your ranks!"

Everyone who was not in their assigned position quickly moved to do so. The traders were in the center, two carriages and three carts for each group, while the soldiers surrounded them protectively. Liv and Elliot were in the front to lead with two of their men flanking them on either side. Four men walked on either side of the traders while four more were behind them. Once the gate was fully lifted, both El and Liv turned to look behind them to their runners- the men who ran ahead to make sure the path was clear. At a nod from their leaders, the two runners slapped their horses' rears and took off. They both followed the path until Liv's runner followed the path that went east towards Sundaria while Elliot's continued north towards Moondor. Airia was in the center of the Kingdom. Telemete was to the west, close to the coast, Sarim was to the south east, and Abba was to the south west. The guards atop the gate would've warned them if they spotted any dragons nearby; the runners were for the forest passed where the guards could see. All ready to go, Elliot and Liv both urged their horses forward. They waved to Cassidy and the other guards as they went passed the gate's walls and out to the trail. Instantly, Liv's senses were tight and aware. The soldiers and traders behind them were also silent, their nervousness overwhelming them as they took their first steps out of the city. Liv knew that, eventually during their three day trip, they would relax a bit. But she would not relax until she was safely in Sundaria. When they finally got to the break in the road, Elliot and Liv shared one last loaded, silent look and Liv lead her group away.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

"Olivia!" she heard an excited voice call to her.

Olivia, her men, and the traders had arrived safely and on-time to Sundaria only a short while ago. There had been absolutely no trouble from the dragons though they had heard them prowling around out there. She hoped that didn't mean they were gathering to cause chaos on their way home. Once they'd arrived, the guards had opened the gates and showed them to the barns and the hotel specifically built and in business for the visiting soldiers. Though Olivia was sure most of them hardly used it; they preferred to go wild in the local bars and find some women to go home with. The traders however took the opportunity to get some rest before they started the trading the next day. After untying the horses from the carriages and making sure all the things they were going to trade were safe, the traders went to find their beds. Olivia had led Coffee to her temporary stall and made sure she was fed, watered, and comfortable. Then she'd watched all her men excitedly go off with Sundaria's soldiers to the bars which was when she'd heard the voice. She smiled before she turned around, instantly recognizing the voice of her lover. "Hello Alex," she said both sounding warm and official.

"How were your travels? It seems as if everything went okay," the blonde looked the part on the outside, but Olivia could see the excited sparkle in her eyes.

"Yes they did. No problems whatsoever. Just glad to be here in your city."

Alex smiled pleased, "So what are your plans for the evening?"

"Well, at the moment nothing."

"Would you like to assist me home now that I've seen you and your men got here okay?"

"I would." Gentlemanly, Olivia held out her arm so Alex could hold on to it before they walked towards the Governor and Governess' mansion. Everyone they passed greeted them with respectful smiles and bows. Upon arrival, servants opened the door for them and asked if they needed anything. Alex told them to bring a bottle of brandy to Alex's room before sending the rest away and leading Olivia upstairs. After the brandy arrived, Olivia and Alex sat around talking, drinking, and laughing. They caught each other up on their winters before talking about random things and making jokes. Then Olivia remembered, "Oh! I almost forgot. Princess Casey sent a letter for you with me."

Alex immediately perked up before trying to cover it up and saying nonchalantly, "She did, did she?"

Liv smartly covered her smirk and she nodded and reached inside her vest. She held out the letter and watched as Alex looked at it hungrily but took it slowly. Olivia also noticed the slightly shaking of her hand. She couldn't hold it back anymore; she smirked and said, "Okay. What's going on?"

Alex blushed, "What? I don't know what you're talking about.

"Uh huh. Sure you don't. Come on Al. You can tell me. You should know by now that I won't judge you."

Alex sighed, "Alright. So maybe I do know what you're talking about."

Liv smiled and slid closer to her on the sofa. Gently, she pushed, "Tell me."

Alex was silent for a moment before finally whispering, "I think… I think I'm in love with her."

Liv's eyes widened, "What? With Casey?" When Alex nodded, Liv fell back against the back of the sofa, "Wow Al. That's… When did this happen?"

"When Trevor and I visited. I… I didn't expect it to happen Liv; I didn't flirt or anything at first even though I thought she was beautiful. But then Trevor left me alone and she came over and we started talking and I don't know… it just sort of happened. She's so smart and witty and God can she make me laugh. And it's like we both just forgot who we were, that we're supposed to keep up appearances. She made me feel special; she made me feel things I've never felt before."

Liv exhaled heavily in shock. Then she asked, "Does she feel the same about you?"

"She didn't say specifically… but yes, I believe she does," she looked down at the letter with a far-off look.

Olivia had never seen her friend like this. She knew Alex didn't love or even really like Trevor. And though she and Liv were good friends who had sex, she was not in love with Olivia. Nor was Liv with her. But she couldn't help but feel a little sad. If Alex had feelings for Casey, that meant their time together was over and Alex had been the best lover she'd ever had. But as long as they stayed friends, she would easily back off. She wanted Alex to be happy. She quickly stood up and cleared her throat before saying, "Well. I'll just leave you alone to your letter. I will gladly take back your response. Just flag me down before I leave, okay? Thanks for the brandy."

"Olivia wait! You don't have to leave," Alex said looking at her guiltily.

"It's okay. I could use the rest anyway."

"Can I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Whatever you want or don't want to happen, I'll always be here for you."

Alex relaxed and smiled happily, "Thank you Olivia. I'll always be here for you too. You're the best friend I've ever had and I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. I promise. Enjoy your letter. See you tomorrow."

~~~~SVU~~~~

Amanda had arrived safely in the Airian Kingdom. She had to admit it was weird to be so near her old home and the home of Dean. It brought up some hard memories and thoughts. She thought of her family, remembered her family. She wondered, not for the first time what happened to Dean. He would've passed away many years ago but she wondered how. Despite what he'd done, despite breaking her heart and using her to infect her people, she hoped he had lived and died peacefully. She remembered him telling her that the city she had helped him to was the main one, Airia, and that he had travelled there from another city called Sundaria. She had a general idea of the layout of the land based on what he had told her plus what she remembered from living there. Her family's old village was long gone, nothing left but a few tiny ruins. She had made it undiscovered to Airia but judging by the semi-fresh smell, she had missed the current trade groups. One group went towards where she knew Sundaria was and another went towards another city she couldn't remember the name of. From the smell, she could tell both groups were about the same size. She decided to head the familiar way, towards Sundaria. She was a few days behind the group, but she knew they had to come back out soon. When she reached Sundaria, she hid, making herself a temporary nest in a tree with a clear view of the city gates.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Over the stay, Alex and Olivia met up several times. They didn't do anything sexual- just talked, Liv asking Alex more about her relationship with Casey but respecting their privacy by not asking about the letter. Olivia gave Alex her blessing and encouraged her to act on her feelings. She wasn't sure if she had convinced Alex to do so, but she hoped. Alex had written a response and given it to Liv who had safely tucked it into her vest. Finally, the day came when her and her men had to head back home. The previous day, she had made sure they all knew they were leaving so they would be rested, not hungover, and prepared for the journey. Now, it was early morning and her men were nearly ready to get going. Olivia had dressed and packed and was atop Coffee, waiting at the entrance for everyone to get there. "Olivia!" Olivia looked to see Alex waving at her as he came her way. Liv hopped off as she reached her.

"You didn't have to come see me off Alex."

"I wanted to. I just wanted to thank you for all you've done for me one last time. I know I said it before but it meant a lot to me. And what you're doing now means a lot to me. And to show you, I have something for you." Before Liv could protest, Alex held a necklace up to her. Liv's eyes widened. It was simple but beautiful. Its chain was gold and in the pendant was a yin and yang symbol only instead of its usual black and white, one side was ice blue with a black dot and the other was brown with a white dot. "I had it made special," Alex explained softly, "The colors match our eyes and I picked the symbol so you know that you are the yin to my yang. We are complete opposites and yet we fit together so well. Even though we've agreed to stop seeing each other that way, you are still the most special person to me. You're my best friend. You've shown me what real loving making feels like. You came into my life when I needed you most and you've given me courage to embrace what I feel for Casey. I told her in my letter for her how I feel about her and I can only hope she returns my feelings. I don't know what'll happen, but at least she'll know how I feel. I most likely would not have done that without you. So please just accept my gift because it's the only thing I can give you even though it's nowhere near the gifts you've given me."

Liv's eyes moved from the necklace to Alex's eyes and back again. She was not used to receiving gifts; she hated to accept things that she had not earned. But Alex was special to her. And she clearly just wanted to give thanks even though Liv didn't know what she was being thanked for. When Alex could see her inner battle, she gently took her hand and placed the necklace into her palm before closing her fingers around it. Liv looked at the necklace in her hand for another moment before looking at Alex. "Thank you Alex. It's beautiful." She quickly undid the clasp, draped it around her neck, and clipped it behind her. She had to admit, it looked stunning on her. Alex seemed to think so too for she smiled brilliantly as she eyed it.

Her eyes moved upwards and she said, "Travel safely Liv. I'll see you in a few weeks' time."

Liv hugged the blonde, "Be safe Alex. See you soon."

Then she quickly hopped back on her horse. She saw her men and the traders were ready so she called, "Everyone ready! Form your ranks! Open the gate!"

Alex walked a few steps away but turned to watch them leave. Liv sent her runner out and waved to her one last time before heading out. Unaware of the winged figure watching them. In the trees, Amanda watched excitedly as the group began to leave. She stayed unmoving as the leader soldier led the way. Amanda was struck by the woman's beauty. She looked over the men following her and the blonde woman waving behind them, but none of them held a candle to the lead soldier. She was absolutely stunning, and Amanda found herself feeling something, something that was both familiar and completely different than anything she'd felt before. When she realized that however, she shoved it away and focused on her mission. She would follow them, steal their drinks, and leave. That was it. But as her eyes followed the brunette soldier, she had the feeling it wouldn't be that simple.

~~~~SVU~~~~

It was their second morning out; they were a little more than a day away from home. Liv was anxious to give Alex's letter to Casey, to see what the Princess' actions would be. Her actions from before Liv left made things much clearer now. She must've known that Liv and Alex were close and had used her charming personality to get Liv to deliver the letter. Though she would have done so without all the flirting. That still confused her. Maybe that was just Casey's personality. Hearing what Alex had said about her and how they had interacted, that was plausible. Liv had decided that she would talk with the Princess. She had to make sure that Alex didn't get hurt, that Casey wouldn't hurt her. She just didn't know how she was going to do that; she didn't want to piss the Royal off and have her throw her in jail. She would have to put it delicately, respectfully, and Liv had no idea how. When she'd had that talk with Kathy, she hadn't been delicate or respectful. Sure, she had made sure Kathy wouldn't hate her afterwards, but she was stern enough so Kathy would know her place and not hurt Elliot or she would have to answer to Olivia. Kathy had been a little scared of her after that. And to be honest, Liv wasn't completely warm. But the longer she and El stayed together, the more Liv eased and the less afraid Kathy was. Liv just had to make sure Casey got the same idea about Alex. Somehow. She was pondering how that discussion would go when Olivia heard a shout.

"Sergeant! Sergeant! They're coming!" It was her runner.

She heard the screams of the dragons and knew she and her men would have only seconds before the attack. Quickly, she yelled over her back, "Dragons! Everyone to battle stations! Get the traders to safety!" All her men pulled their swords and the side ranked men started guiding the traders away and began to hide them under the tarp and the bile. Liv pulled out her sword as well just as the dragons came at them. She slashed at the nearest dragon with her weapon, feeling it slice through the dragon's soft underbelly. As the dragon cried in pain and fell to the ground, she jumped from Coffee's back on top of it. The dragon tried clawing and biting at her but she dodged it, using her sword to block the blows she couldn't easily move out of the way from. She pulled her knife and used it to tear the dragon's throat once, twice, and then she held it inside, cutting of its air. The creature's screams turned into gurgling, choking sounds and it seemed stunned by pain. She kicked at its wings and limbs, leaving its underside more open. Like lightning, she drove her sword through the skin over its heart and ripped it open. Through the long gash, she could see its beating heart. The dragon was now aware of its vulnerability and started clawing again. Liv felt the claws sink into her shoulder and side and slice open her back. She howled but recovered quickly before the dragon could buck her off. With a roar, she stabbed the heart with her sword. The dragon screamed again as Liv pulled the heart and sword out before it fell dead to the ground.

Liv didn't have time to revel in her victory before another dragon slammed into her. She was thrown against a tree and the breath was knocked out of her. She crumbled up in a heap on the ground as she tried to gasp in breath. She could hear the battle going on around her and wanted to get back out there; she had men to defend. She forced away the pain and got onto her hands and knees. She was shocked to see Coffee defending her, rearing up and kicking out until the dragon flew away. She turned back to her human and leaned down. "Thanks," Liv gasped as she gripped Coffee's bridle and let her pull her up. She pushed Coffee away, "Get out of her Coff." She didn't wait to see if her horse ran to safety. She saw one of her men in the clutches of a dragon nearby. He was screaming as it sunk its teeth into his shoulder and throat. "NO!" Liv yelled as she attacked. The dragon let her man go so it could better fight her. But Liv was feeling the loss of breath and blood and was a little slower wielding her weapon. The dragon pinned her down and reared back, roaring as if to claim his prey. She braced for the death bite, hoping that at least some of her men and the traders got away. But suddenly the dragon was forced away from her. She tried to watch but her vision was beginning to fade. Maybe Coffee had come to her aid again. She heard the struggles continuing and tried to get up. But her wounds were gushing and she was weakening. She collapsed. She groaned for Coffee, but was sure it wasn't understandable as she fell into darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: blah blah blah blah blah blah

Note: thank you to all those who have favorited/followed/commented. Each one makes me very happy. Sorry for the wait; I try to post at least one a week but last week was pretty busy. To make up for it, this chapter is longer than the rest. Hope you enjoy it and keep favoriting, following, and commenting!

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Amanda watched as the group of travelers made their way through the woods back home. Specifically, she watched the leader, the muscular, beautiful brunette. After only a few hours of following them, she had come to realize that she had never seen a more beautiful creature in all her life. The brunette led her men with grace and dignity. When she gave them orders, she gave them in a way that was both full of authority as well as kindness. She was not the kind of leader who led through fear and harshness, and as a result it seemed that her men didn't just respect her but adored her for it. They followed her lead without question, and Amanda couldn't help but wonder why- because of her gender. But it didn't take a genius to see that she had worked hard to get where she was. And she was clearly good at it. Amanda also noticed that, as much as she looked out for them, they looked out for her as well. Sometime around midday, Amanda watched as one of the soldiers came to her side to bring some food; the brunette had not eaten yet that day and the soldier had obviously noticed and worried for his leader's health. Amanda watched as the brunette smiled gratefully and spoke to the man as she accepted the food. The man said something back and the brunette threw her head back with laughter before clapping his shoulder in a friendly gesture. Amanda had smiled at the scene, thinking how melodic that laugh was.

When it came time to settle down for the night, the brunette supervised and gave quick, quiet orders as the men shielded themselves from the dragons. Amanda knew this was it, her chance to rifle through their things before heading back home. But, as she continued to watch as the brunette jumped off her horse, tended to her needs, and selflessly took part in the first watch, she couldn't bring herself to move. So instead, she sat in a tree, shielded from sight by its leaves, and took part in her own watch. She would know if the dragons were coming, though it occurred to her that she had no idea what she would do if there actually was an attack. She couldn't reveal herself of course because they'd just attack her. She knew she should just stay away, even if the dragons did attack; it wasn't her problem, her duty to try to save humans who would be just as quick to try to kill her. But as she watched the brunette walk along the outside of the group silently, Amanda knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from jumping in. And, despite all of Amanda's hoping that the group would make it back home safely, that's exactly what happened.

Amanda had been following the humans at a safe distance as she'd done the day before when she heard them. The wind was a little stronger then yesterday, carrying the scent of the humans beyond. The dragons had smelt them and were now bearing down on them. At least a dozen of them from what Amanda could hear. She began to panic. They were flying in at a rapid pace. The winter and sudden, enticing smell of humans made them more ravenous than usual so they were fast to descend upon the group. Amanda worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she quickly tried to come up with a plan. She listened ahead. The runner! He was the closest. If she could get him to be aware, he could warn the rest. Amanda uncurled her wings and shot away. She whizzed through the trees until she came upon the runner. He was looking out into the forest with a spyglass, but in the opposite direction of which the dragons were coming. Risking her own safety, Amanda flew as she roared. Her roar was nothing like the dragons', but she was still a dragon after all and could roar just enough to get the man's attention. Instantly, he was sitting straighter on his horse and looking her and the dragons' way. Amanda made sure he saw her wings as she roared again. Immediately he took off. The dragons were closer now and she knew he could hear them. He started shouting and Amanda watched as the soldiers instantly reached for their weapons and began to protect the traders as the dragons attacked.

She crouched behind a shrub as she watched the battle. Just as she had predicted, a dozen dragons had showed up to feast. Amanda watched in horror as some of the soldiers were instantly slaughtered while others were battling with all their might. Her eyes flicked around until she found the brunette. She watched as the brunette pulled out the heart of one attacker only to be slammed into by another. Amanda gasped as she saw the leader collapse only to have her horse jump into to save her. And still the human would not give up. She was bloody and out of breath but still she jumped into to try to save her fellow soldier. Amanda could see she wouldn't be able to fight long. She looked to the horse, hoping it would jump in again, but it was kicking and stomping on another dragon, unaware that its human was about to die. Amanda didn't think. She launched herself from the bushes and slammed into the dragon's side. It recovered quickly though and was launching itself back at her before she could prepare. Their bodies collided once again and rolled across the grass. The dragon ended up on top, but Amanda had pulled out her knife and was ready. She stabbed at the dragon, holding onto its throat so it couldn't bite her. She whined in pain as the dragon clawed her sides and legs. But it was screaming in pain as Amanda's knife ripped open its chest and belly. Amanda finally got the area she wanted and stabbed with all her strength. She pulled the knife downward to create a gaping wound in it chest. Before the dragon could pull away, she jammed her hand inside and gripped tightly onto the heart. The dragon let out a panicked scream and tried to fly away. But the added movement, just gave Amanda more room to force her arm back and rip the heart out. The dragon fell on top of her, dead. Amanda quickly pushed it off her and looked around. Two men were still battling, but Amanda could see they were only just barely managing to do so. Five dragons surrounded them, ready to either wait for them to die or for them to lower their weapons just enough to move in for the kill. Four dragons were dead, one of which the brunette had killed and another that Amanda had. The other three dragons were feasting upon the human and horse corpses. Amanda looked to see the brunette was exactly where she had fallen. She was in a pool of blood. Amanda realized with relief that she could just see the small rise and fall of her chest. At least she was still breathing. Amanda frowned; once again another decision needed to be made. To leave the brunette here or not. Could Amanda risk the human discovering her? Amanda looked around, using her all senses to observe the area. The men that had been sent away with the traders were long gone. Amanda was pretty certain they would not come back. The dragons that were alive were quickly eating their way through the dead; she knew it was only a short matter of time before they found the brunette. Alive or not, they would eat her anyway. If she didn't bleed out by then. No. She couldn't just walk away. Not while there was still life in that strong, beautiful body. She at least had to try.

Quickly, she moved forward to assess just how badly the brunette was wounded. Her shoulder and back had been clawed and were bleeding heavily but the wounds didn't look too deep. She had a huge bump already forming on the back of her head from being slammed into the tree. She had other smaller cuts and bruises. But what worried Amanda the most was the claw wounds in her side. They were deep and where the pool of blood was coming from. Amanda began to panic again as she wished she had brought her first-aid stuff with her. Suddenly, without knowing why the idea came to her, Amanda cut open her palm and spread her blood over the wounds, letting it get deep inside the slashes on the human's side. Then using the torn remnants of the brunette's shirt, she wrapped the wounds up as best she could nice and tight to help stop the blood flow. When she saw how quickly the fabric soaked, she knew she couldn't waste any more time; she had to get the woman back to her home. Amanda quickly gathered the human into her arms, forcing herself to ignore the small gasp of pain from the human. Almost immediately, as if sensing the need for her, the brunette's horse was at her side. Amanda quickly lifted them both into the air and onto the horse's back. She held the human tight to her chest with one hand and gripped the horse's bridle with the other. At a slight kick to her sides, the horse was off, cantering with everything she had. Amanda spread her wings out behind them and began to flap. The horse made a sound at the extra speed but pushed herself even faster with the help of Amanda.

They ran for hours, hours that Amanda hardly noticed because she was too focused on the human in her lap, until finally Amanda's home came into view. She pulled the horse to a stop before jumping off with the human still in her arms. She quickly flew her inside and laid her gently onto her nest. The human was unnaturally pale, but she was still breathing and that gave Amanda all the hope she needed. Quickly she rushed to the corner of her home where she kept her first aid kits. She wasn't sure which items were in which box so she just grabbed all four of them. She whirled back to the human and kneeled beside her. Without thought, she decided to start with the still bleeding wounds on her side. Luckily the shirt bandage she had made earlier did a fair job of slowing the bleeding enough where the human wasn't gushing. Amanda untied the shirt and tossed it away; she would do her best to clean it later but it was most likely ruined. She quickly went to the backroom where she kept water basins where she also grabbed an old cloth. When she crouched back by the human she reached for one box and opened it looking for the needle and thread to sew her up. She knew hot water would be better to clean the wound but right now she was more concerned with stopping the flow of blood. She wiped away as much of the blood as she could as well as dumped the basin over her to wash the inside of the wounds. When they were as clean as possible, she threaded the needle and quickly began to stitch the wounds closed. In her haste, the stitches weren't exactly neat, but they did the trick. The wounds closed and stopped bleeding. Next, she moved to the wounds on the woman's shoulder and back. They didn't need as many stitches so for the most part, she just cleansed the wounds and bandaged them. She even tended to the little cuts and the bump on the back of her head. When she was done, she noticed that the, though the human seemed uncomfortable in her unconsciousness, her color didn't seem as pale as it had been. Amanda sighed in slight relief. The human wasn't out of the woods yet, but she was in better shape than before. All that could be done now was to watch and wait.

Realizing there was nothing left for her to do for the brunette at the moment, the blonde quickly shed her own bloody clothes, tossing them with the brunette's torn and bloody shirt, and tended to her own wounds. Fortunately none of them were bad and she knew they would close within a few days. Before the illness, dragons had been rapid healers; A deep, fatal-to-anyone-else wound could heal in a day or less and even their limbs could grow back- though that took longer and was incredibly painful. After the illness, they didn't heal as fast; severe wounds could take days or even weeks nor would their limbs grow back. She had seen wild dragons with missing limbs, presumably having had them cut off in fights with humans. It wasn't convenient but it was better than healing like a human. After she wrapped her own wounds, she got dressed in clean clothes before grabbing another kit and going outside. Standing anxiously by the house was the brunette's ever-loyal horse. She looked at Amanda nervously; Amanda could see the only reason she didn't bolt was that she didn't want to leave her human. Amanda made sure her wings were tucked as close to her body as she could get them as she held up her hands. "Easy girl," she said softly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The horse didn't relax but she allowed Amanda to come closer. She held out one hand towards the horse to let her smell it before lifting the kit as well. The horse relaxed slightly but still watched warily. Amanda moved slowly as she went to undo and remove her saddle and bridle then crouched to clean and bandage the animal's injuries. She didn't have any bad ones, mostly just cuts and some small claw and bite marks on her legs, but Amanda didn't want the brunette to be angry at her for not tending to her companion. When she was done, Amanda couldn't help but think the animal looked shocked that she had helped her. Amanda chuckled before heading back inside. She still had some good fruits and vegetables and she willingly gave them to the horse along with a pail of water. Using the temptation of food and water, Amanda guided the horse inside the barn. It wasn't in the best shape, but it would give the horse a decent place to rest. After the long, fast journey, the horse gulped down all the water and devoured the food. When she was done, she nuzzled Amanda with her nose as if to say thank you before laying down on a soft patch of ground. Amanda smiled amusedly before heading back inside. A quick look at the brunette told Amanda she was still out. She debated whether she should go hunting at that moment or wait until morning. Of course, morning would be safer, but what if the human woke before then. She would need to eat and drink in order to regain strength. Healing would take a lot out of her, Amanda knew. Amanda needed to eat too, she realized as she was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion. Her wings in particular suddenly felt very heavy, and she let them droop, dragging on the floor behind her. Amanda decided it would be better to wait for morning; she was too tired to head out into a dangerous, dragon-infested forest at night.

She stumbled over to the pile of clothes in one corner of the room. She arranged them into a make-shift nest before crawling on top of them and burying herself with some. She curled up much like a cat, her limbs tucked close to her and her wings draped over her like a blanket. She peeked out towards the human. She shifted one wing back slightly so she would clearly hear if the human woke up and/or needed something. She would be up at first light to check on her before hunting. She had a million worries, but thankfully they didn't take too long to settle as her mind numbed into sleep.

~~~~SVU~~~~

The first thing Olivia was aware of upon climbing out of unconsciousness was the pain. Her whole body was sore but pain seemed to be radiating from her shoulder, back, and side. Especially her side. It felt like it was on fire as it throbbed. And her head. Her head felt like it was being used as a percussion instrument. She groaned as she tried to open her eyes and was met with a blinding ray of sunshine. She immediately shut her eyes again. 'What had happened?' she wondered. She tried to rifle through the pounding in her head to remember. She remembered leaving Airia and then later Sundaria. She and her men and the traders had stopped for a night. Her heart rate increased as it came flooding back to her. The shouting of her runner, the pulling of her weapon, the dragons descending. She did not know how many had attacked; she had just called for everyone to get into position and they all fought the beasts. She remembered jumping off Coffee onto a dragon whose heart she ripped out only seconds before another attacked. She remembered the pain of slamming into the tree and the shock, pride, and love at seeing Coffee defending her. She remembered the panic for and dedication to her men that forced her back into battle. The man she had tried to save was surely dead, but she had tried anyway. She remembered losing blood, losing the fight. She remembered the dragon about to kill her when it was forced away. And she blacked out. Guilt instantly swelled through her for her weakness. It had been her duty to protect her men. Of course, she had done the best she could; she had gone down fighting like a good soldier should. But that wasn't enough to assuage her guilt. How many of her men had died? How many had fought with all their might only to be slain and eaten? Had the traders and their assigned guardians gotten away? Or were their bones being digested in the dragons' gullets right at that moment? And then suddenly, perhaps the most important question swirled around Liv's brain. How had she survived?

Suddenly a few more things became clear to Olivia. She was no longer on the forest floor; she could feel the softness of furs under her body. She could feel bandages wrapped around her injuries. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to open her eyes, moaning again at the unpleasantness of the sun. She blinked slowly as her eyes adjusted. Slowly, her sight cleared and she could see she was not outside, but inside a small cabin. It was just one room; she was in the corner of it, in a pile of furs, feathers, and ratty clothes. In the corner opposite her, was another pile of clothes and some other miscellaneous items like a weapon sash, sword and knives holstered in it. There was a corner that looked like it was meant to be a kitchen. It had a sink and old, rusty oven and some cabinets. There was a table in the remaining corner that had two chairs sitting by it; it was covered completely in a mess of things. There were two doors on either side of the cabin and one window. The window was open, letting in the summer breeze. It didn't look threatening in anyway, but still Olivia grew even more uneasy. She obviously didn't end up here on her own so how? And who? And why? And where was Coffee? She prayed her beloved horse had not been made part of the feast. She had to find her; she had to get back home. She attempted to sit up, but two things instantly happened. The wound in her side protested while her head's drum beat became even louder and a wave of nausea washed over her. She groaned loudly in pain as she fell back down.

"You're going to want to take it easy," a sudden voice said.

It was soft, nonthreatening, and clearly feminine, but the surprise of it caused Olivia to jump and turn her head towards it, her legs bending slightly and her hands raising defensively. Her eyes landed at one of the doors, the one to her right, where a beautiful blonde was standing. She was small and skinny-looking though Liv could not see most of her body; it was covered by a long, blue, hooded cape that was not only tied at the bottom of her throat but wrapped tightly around most of her form. Even still, Olivia had never seen a more beautiful woman. Upon looking closer, she even grew enchanted by the blonde's sky blue eyes. Olivia's eyes widened as the blonde held up her hands.

"Easy," she said softly, "I do not wish to harm you. You are safe here."

Olivia let the voice seep into her, relax her. She dropped her legs and arms and sagged back against the furs, panting slightly through the pain and nausea. Through the throbbing, she heard footsteps walking across the room and then towards her. She opened her eyes to watch with both wariness and fascination as the woman walked gracefully across to her table. She picked up a bottle and brought it to Liv.

"Drink," she ordered gently. "You have been unconscious for over 24 hours. You must be thirsty."

It was then that Olivia grew aware of the dryness of her throat. She eagerly accepted the bottle and gulped down the water. It was slightly cold and tasted fresh and crisp. She could feel it soothing her dehydrated insides. It even helped to ease her nausea and headache slightly. The woman watched but crouched a respectful distance away and Liv found she could not look away from those blue orbs. When she had her fill, she handed the now-empty bottle back with a shy smile. "Thank you," she croaked.

The woman smiled slightly, "You are welcome. Do you wish to eat or are you still too nauseous?"

"Eat?" Liv asked confused.

One of the blonde's eyebrows lifted as if she wasn't sure why her guest was so confused, "Yes. I have prepared a meal for you."

Amanda had awoken earlier with a groan with the first sign of light. She had not slept all that well; she had constantly woken up to check on the injured female in her bed and when she did sleep, it was a light sleep with her senses extra aware, ready to alert her to any noise or slight movement from her guest. She woke to not only the noises the brunette made but every other sound as well. When dawn finally came, Amanda was ready to get up and prepare for the day. She had checked on the sleeping female one last time before grabbing her weapon belt and bow and arrow. She had stepped outside before pausing. It occurred to her that, should she come back to find the human awake, she would scare at Amanda's appearance. Her wings were every bit as similar to the wild dragons' so it would be no mystery what she was. She had to cover herself up somehow so that she could still be around the human to care for her. She suddenly remembered an item of clothing she had taken from a travelling group many years ago; she hardly wore it because it was such a beautiful piece that she didn't want to ruin it. It was a hooded cape that flowed down her body and dragged behind her by about two feet. It was a thin, soft, slightly shiny material. Amanda had thought it perfect in this situation, so she went back inside to grab it, folded it up, and left it just outside on a patch of grass so she could put it on after hunting. She had flown to the nearest herd of deer, not wanting to be too far away from the human, and killed a fairly large doe. She had carried it back, skinned it expertly, butchered it, roasted some of it over a fire so she could eat, saving some for the human in case she woke up, and saved the rest to be cooked later. If it turned out the human slept through another day, she would just do the same thing tomorrow so she would have plenty of fresh meat for her guest. She had even picked some apples from her apple tree to feed to the horse, who seemed to warm up to her slightly as she was presented with the fruit. She had considered flying back to the scene of the battle to gather the items left behind, but again she didn't want to be too far from the injured woman in her bed. When she finally heard the first groans, she had waited patiently just outside. When she heard the human stirring, she wrapped herself in the cape and quietly opened the door. She watched, unmoving, as the human adjusted to the pain and sunlight but when she tried to move and hurt herself, Amanda took one step forward and spoke to stop her.

Now, the woman was looking at her with both gratefulness and suspicion. Soon, the brunette asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Amanda," she answered easily. "I'm the one who rescued you from the dragons."

Olivia thought of the dragon being forced away from her again. At an awed whisper, she asked, "That was you?"

Amanda nodded, trying not to blush.

Liv cleared her throat and asked her next question, "Where am I?"

"You are in my home. It is within the Airian Kingdom I believe; it has been many years since I last looked at a map, but I believe I'm about a three-day journey from Sundaria."

Olivia nodded. "And you did… this?" she motioned to her bandages.

Again, Amanda nodded before explaining, "You probably have a concussion; there was a rather large bump on the back of your head. The wounds on your shoulder and back were not that deep, only a few of the slashes needed stitches. The wounds on your side however were very deep and bled a lot, but I sewed them and stopped the bleeding. You have a lot of minor cuts and bruises as well that I also treated. If you do not mind, after you've eaten, I would like to reassess the stitches. I was in a hurry to stop the bleeding so I may not have done the best job though it was affective enough."

Olivia mind spun with shock. This stranger had not only saved her, but apparently she had done her best to patch her up. Olivia was not sure what to think, but she forced herself to nod in agreement.

The blonde- Amanda- smiled kindly at her before asking again, "Are you ready to eat?"

Olivia nodded. The last thing she had eaten had been yesterday morning; she was starving. Amanda stood and walked back to the table. She had a few items of kitchen-ware thankfully. She picked up a plate and fork and stacked a few pieces of the cooked deer meat on it before going back to the human. Once the human took the plate, she moved away again. Olivia took a cautious bite. When the savory meat reached her tongue she hummed in pleasure and ate ravenously. After she had devoured the plate, Amanda handed her another one which she took with a grateful smile. It was only on her third plate that she slowed down. Through a full mouth, she asked, "So Amanda was it?" The blonde nodded. "Do you live out here by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why do I live alone? Or why am I out in the forest?"

"Both."

Amanda thought for a moment. She obviously couldn't tell the woman the whole truth, but Amanda had always hated to lie. She had never been very good at it to begin with but it also gave her this almost-unbearable, bad feeling. So she decided on the simplest form of the truth. She answered, "I live out here because my family lived out here. I live alone because I'm the last remaining member of my family."

Olivia paused in her eating to give her a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry to hear that… So then how did you come to where the fight was?"

Again, Amanda took a moment of silence to think. Honestly, she answered, "I was low on supplies and in need of a change after the long winter. I know about the summer trades and set out to find a group I could acquire items from."

Once again, Olivia paused. This time to give her a narrow-eyed look, "You were gonna steal from us?"

Amanda had the decency to blush as she looked away, "Well… yes."

"Why not just go into one of the cities?" the brunette demanded.

Amanda twirled her hair nervously and stammered, "I- I have no money or, as you can see, much to trade with. And- well, I don't fare well around people."

Olivia's eyes narrowed further and Amanda got ready to bolt. Then Olivia thought, 'Well. I can't blame her. If she has no money or items to trade, then she was only doing what she had to. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing.' She sighed, "Well, it's not good to steal. But I guess I understand. Besides, if you weren't there, I'd be dead. Thank you for that by the way."

Amanda relaxed slightly and looked at her quickly before looking away again, "You're welcome."

Olivia finished her food before saying in a friendlier tone, "This was good. Fresher than what I usually get in Airia. We store food as best we can over the winter but the soldiers often get whatever is about to go bad. Sometimes, it's barely edible."

Amanda accepted the compliment with a "thank you" before gathering the plate and dumping it in the sink. Olivia watched her. She pursed her lips; the blonde still avoided eye contact. Olivia felt kind of bad. She didn't trust this woman despite her hospitality, but that was just it- she DID take her in, saved her and provided for her. Olivia didn't exactly like it, but she owed this woman a debt now. She could at least start by being nice to her. In a soft tone, she spoke, "My name is Olivia by the way. Olivia Benson. And I just want to thank you again. You have the gratitude of an Airian soldier and, I'm sure once I get back, the gratitude of the whole army and kingdom as well."

Finally, the small blonde looked into her eyes again and Olivia found herself smiling. Amanda blinked a few times before relaxing and smiling back. "It's an honor to meet you Olivia Benson. And I accept your gratitude. You're welcome again." After a moment of them looking into each other's eyes, each finding themselves getting lost in the other's, Amanda asked, "May I look over your wounds now?"

Olivia nodded. Amanda went to kneel by her side before quickly and efficiently looking over her wounds. Olivia hissed a few times in pain as the bandages peeled back. Amanda first looked at her shoulder. Then her side. Then she gently helped Olivia roll onto her side so she could see her back. She was pleased at what she saw at her shoulder and back. The wounds on the side were still angry-looking and some blood was still trying to force its way between her skin, but other than that, it seemed as okay as to be expected for now. She didn't smell any signs of infection which was definitely a good thing. She rewrapped each one as gently as she could before helping the human to settle down once more. "They look fine. Your side still worries me, but not too much. Maybe tomorrow you'll have enough strength and the pain will have lessened enough for me to better wash them."

Olivia nodded, "How'd you know how and what to do?"

This time, Amanda didn't wait to answer, "I used to have a younger sister who was quite rambunctious. It seemed every time I or my parents turned around she was getting herself into some kind of trouble. Skinning her knees, stubbing her toes, falling out of trees, tripping over roots while running, slipping down ravines. She was always getting hurt and needing to be bandaged up. After so many times of that, you learn these things." Amanda smiled at the memory but it died when Olivia asked her next question.

"'Had?' What happened to her?"

Amanda was silent as she looked into the soldier's brown eyes. She didn't want to answer; it could lead to too many questions and brought up too many memories. The guilt and grief still got to her. But, besides her hatred of lying, there was just something about the woman that caused Amanda to say, "She, along with the rest of my family, fell ill and died."

Olivia's eyes widened and she said quietly, "I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is to lose family." At Amanda's lifted eyebrow, she continued, "I lost my mother a few years ago. She was the only blood family I had."

This time Amanda gave Liv her sympathies just before Liv yawned. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was until just then. Amanda gave her a soft smile and said, "Sleep. It'll be good for your healing." Liv nodded and shimmed down deeper into the furs as Amanda asked, "Do you need more to cover you? Are you comfortable?"

"Well as comfortable as one can be with all these injuries," Liv chuckled.

"Okay. Just- umm- shout if you need anything."

Olivia mumbled a response as sleep quickly overcame her.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: if I owned SVU, why would I be writing fanfiction?

Note: continued thanks to everyone who has commented/favorited/followed this story. You are all awesome! So wrote this last week and then didn't post it because I had a feeling I should wait. Turns out, this week my mother is home from work (because she only works every other week this summer fml) and, long story short, my mother and I do not get along; we basically hate each other, and due to this, I may or may not be able to write this week. I mean, it's only been a day and I already am filled with so much rage, I may just explode. But low and behold, I had a chapter to post! Woo! Lol so enjoy it! Because the next chapter I post may be on the run from the cops after I murder my mother

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Three days passed much in the same manner as the first. Liv woke up to find Amanda had hunted and cooked for her. She would check over her injuries and redo the bandages. Olivia's concussion and side wound kept her in the nest so Amanda would have to help her to go to the bathroom. It was incredibly embarrassing for Liv, but Amanda made it less so by looking at the ceiling whenever it had to happen. Liv was getting more and more frustrated and restless the more time she spent in the nest; she snapped at Amanda a few times, but would apologize a few moments later. Amanda never once expressed hurt or annoyance because she understood. She'd be the same way she was sure. They would talk, get to know each other a little better. Olivia told her mostly about her life as a soldier and Assassin and about her fellow Sergeants. Amanda flinched slightly the first time Olivia mentioned killing dragons, but she did a good job of covering it up. She didn't want to have to explain to the human why she flinched- that despite what they'd become those dragons were still her family. She couldn't help but wonder about her immediate family, her sister especially. Had she been one of those dragons killed? Did one of the hearts Olivia had taken belong to her sister or parents or someone else she knew? She didn't want to think too deeply about it. And despite the inner disgust and grief for her family, she couldn't help but be entranced by the way Olivia spoke of her battles. She spoke with pride in her voice and shinning in her eyes. It wasn't full of bloodlust or fascination of the kill either which made Amanda feel better. She knew that her family had become nothing more than mindless, killing machines who had and would kill as many people as they could. Olivia and her fellow soldiers were just doing what they had to to survive and protect their people. The topic also confirmed what Amanda believed, that the human she was caring for would kill her if she knew what she was. The human had already asked several times why she wore the cloak. It hadn't escaped Liv that the flowy material covered what looked like a slight humpback, and she told Amanda that, if she wanted to take it off, she wouldn't care what physical deformity she had. That had caused Amanda to freeze for a second before letting out a snort of laughter as she thought, 'Oh if only that were the physical deformity I was hiding.'

Finally, on the fifth day there, Olivia knew she needed to get out of the nest and get outside. She wouldn't admit it, but she had had a horrible nightmare the previous night, one that made her relive the last battle only this time, she was frozen in place as she watched her men get torn to shreds and eaten. She heard them screaming to her to help; they looked at her with pleading eyes and their arms reaching towards her as they begged her to save them. And she cried and thrashed in place as she tried to get to them, but some kind of invisible force was holding her back. Perhaps the worst part was when she heard the cries of Coffee and she'd had to watch as two dragons pulled her apart. Olivia had heaved as she watched her beloved companion's guts fall all over the place before the dragons began to scoop them up and devour them. When every last man and horse had died and been eaten, the dragons all turned to look at her with their hungry, soulless eyes before descending on her all at once. She woke with a gasp, covered in sweat and tears and shaking like a leaf. She panted as she looked around the cabin. Though she still did not completely trust where she was and the woman caring for her, seeing the cabin and sleeping form of her caretaker in front of her calmed her. She panted as she lay back. She'd spent most of the night awake after that, only falling into a light sleep maybe an hour before she heard Amanda get up. Pushing herself up slightly, she said, "Morning Amanda."

Amanda jumped but quickly recovered and smiled, "Good morning Olivia. Do you need assistance with anything before I go hunting?"

"Actually, I was wondering- if it wouldn't be too much trouble- I need to get outside. Just for a little while at least. I can't lay here anymore."

Amanda cocked her head. There was something off about the human, but she couldn't tell what. She didn't know if it was a great idea, but the way the human's brown eyes were looking at her with such an obvious plea, she found she couldn't say no. She nodded, "Alright. But just for a little while. I don't want you exhausting yourself too much, okay?"

Olivia grinned and nodded vehemently. Amanda moved to help Olivia stand. She was still a little shaky on her feet and she cringed when her side protested. But her concussion no longer caused her to feel nauseous when she moved. Slowly, the two made their way to the door and outside. Amanda helped her to sit in a rocking chair that had been there for who knows how long but was still strong enough to hold up a body. Olivia sighed in relief and took a deep breath of the fresh, outdoor air. She looked to the sky to see a flock of birds flying over them. The sun was just over the horizon now and it was slightly cloudy. It was still a little cool from the night but warmth filled Olivia as a beam of light moved over her as the clouds slid away from the sun. She closed her eyes and let it soak in with a smile as she breathed deeply. Amanda watched, enthralled, at the joy on the woman's face. It was such a simple thing and yet it seemed to melt all the tension from the human's body. Suddenly, Amanda was very glad she had been convinced to bring her out here; she enjoyed seeing such happiness on her ward's face. It also gave Amanda the urge to make the woman happy whenever she could, and she instantly got another idea. "Wait here. Don't open your eyes until I tell you to," she said softly, trying not to startle the human.

Olivia chuckled, "Like I could go anywhere."

Amanda ran around the side of the house to the barn. She quietly opened the door and peeked in. The horse was already awake, waiting to be let out to graze in the yard as Amanda had been doing every day. Amanda slowly moved inside and gently said, "I have a surprise for you girl." The horse had warmed up to Amanda over the last few days, coming to realize she was not a threat, and easily let her walk at her side to guide her outside. As if sensing Amanda's excitement, the horse continued to follow her back around to the front of the house. Right before they rounded the corner, Amanda called, "You can open your eyes now!"

Olivia did and turned to look towards where Amanda's voice was coming from. As soon as the horse came into view, both human and horse made a happily surprised sound. "Coffee!" Olivia cried in shock and joy as the horse whinnied loudly and took off towards her human. Olivia knew better than to stand but she opened her arms to eagerly welcome her horse. The animal went right up to her and bent down slightly to nuzzle her human's nose. She spent a few moments sniffing over Olivia, as if checking to see that she was okay, while Olivia spoke to her lovingly. Then the horse moved as close as she could and leaned her head down over the human's back while Olivia's arms hugged the animal tight. With a smile, Amanda stood a respectful distance away as she watched human and horse get reacquainted. Finally, Olivia looked to her caretaker and said with as much feeling as she could muster, "Thank you." She had tears sliding down her face but her eyes were filled with joy, relief, gratefulness, and many other emotions.

Amanda smiled warmly at her, "You're welcome." She was overjoyed that she could help bring such happiness to the human. A part of Amanda that had previously been cold and numb thawed and warmed. The human closed her eyes and buried her face deeper into her horse's chest. Amanda turned and went back inside to get her bow and arrow. When she returned, the two beings were still hugging so, softly so as not to ruin the moment, Amanda said, "I'm going hunting. I'll be back soon. Try not to move."

Her voice muffled slightly, the human responded, "I won't."

Amanda walked into the forest, her senses searching for the closest prey. When she pinpointed their location, Amanda looked back to make sure she was out of sight before removing the cape, hiding it in a tree, and taking flight. She hunted quickly and expertly, gathering the deer into her arms as she thanked the Goddess for its life and gifts, and flew back towards her home. She quickly covered herself in the cloak before walking back into the human's sight. Amanda smiled as she saw the human was where she'd left her. Her horse had moved her attention to grazing but was still standing close to her human. Olivia was watching her with awe, relief, and happiness until she heard Amanda coming. "That was fast. You must have only been gone like twenty minutes," the human observed.

Amanda nodded but stayed silent as she moved to the area she'd designated for skinning, hanging, and cooking meat. Olivia's eyes moved between Coffee and Amanda as she watched the blonde start a fire before skinning the deer. She did it quickly and efficiently, making Olivia wonder just how long she's been living out here, fending off the land. And how much of that time had she been alone? Obviously it was long enough that she could do this stuff so easily and well. Olivia herself had only hunted a handful of times and she'd never skinned her own meal. She watched as Amanda draped the complete deer skin over a line before grabbing a different knife to carve the animal up. It reminded Olivia of carving a Thanksgiving turkey except Amanda used all the parts. Olivia watched with both disgust and fascination as Amanda tossed some of the innards into a bucket before skewering the meat and setting it above the fire. She alternated between rotating it as she shuffled through the innards. She pulled out what looked to be the liver, stomach, and heart. She placed the stomach into a skillet and placed that over some hot coals and rotated the meat again. Then she chopped up the liver and heart. It was then she looked up at the human. Their eyes met. Amanda had felt the brunette watching her, and when she looked up she saw it was with curiosity and slight awe. If she remembered correctly, humans didn't often eat every part of the animal. Usually it was just the meat. So for the sake of Olivia's stomach, she warned, "You um. You might want to look away. I'm about to eat the liver and heart."

Olivia couldn't help but crinkle her nose and ask, "Raw?"

Amanda shrugged and nodded, "Their full of nutrition and are actually quite tasty uncooked."

Olivia nodded but didn't look away. Amanda shrugged again and began to pick up the bite-sized, bloody pieces of heart and liver. There was another reason Amanda ate these two parts raw; they were the first things a dragon went for when eating their prey. The liver went first because it was nestled in the softest flesh. Normally the stomach and intestines would go next and then the heart before the rest of the body. But Amanda refused to give in to her more wild cravings; she would fight them off as long as she could. So she chopped up the liver and heart and cooked the stomach in a more human fashion and avoided the intestines all together because she couldn't stomach what was in them and the taste. Any other body part (like the intestines, the legs, hooves, horns, bones, etc.) she did not eat would go out into the forest. It was another one of her ways to keep the dragons off her property if she kept the entertained with food. But still the bloody meat got her mouth watering and her wild-side demanding to be released. It was how she knew the illness Dean had forced upon her and her kind was still inside her, how she kept track of how badly the illness was affecting her. Every year, her wild-side got worse; she didn't know how much time she would have until she snapped completely like the rest, but she was determined to stave it off as long as possible. Finally, she had eaten the liver and heart and drank up all the leftover blood and the stomach was ready. She ate it as she turned the cooking meat. Every once in a while, she would pick off a piece of the meat to taste it until she was satisfied she had cooked all of it thoroughly enough. She plopped several chunks on a plate before bring it over to Olivia who took it gratefully. Amanda then walked to garden and picked out some apples, carrots, and berries which she gave to Olivia to give to Coffee. The horse ate the apples and carrots while Liv ate an apple and some berries. Amanda also gave her some water before walking away to eat as well. Olivia noticed this and called, "You know, you CAN eat by me. I promise I won't steal your food."

Amanda chuckled and obliged, moving closer but still sitting a few yards away. It puzzled Olivia how shy and private the other woman could be, but she supposed that it was mostly due to being used to being alone. She had said once that she didn't do well around people; she just lacked social skills. They ate in silence until Olivia was finally done. With a smile, she said, "You know you're a really good cook all things considering. Maybe I'm just not used to eating such fresh meat, but I still think what you've given me is the best I've ever had."

Amanda smiled widely at the compliment, "Thank you."

After another moment of silence, Olivia asked, "So are you gonna make me go back inside?"

Amanda gave her an odd look and said defensively, "I would never make you do anything Olivia. You are not a prisoner."

Olivia eyes widened, instantly feeling like she had offended her caretaker, "I know! I know! That's not how I meant it."

Amanda relaxed, "Sorry. I know. No. You do not have to go back inside until you get tired if you would like. But only if you promise to tell me when you start to feel it. I don't want you over doing it."

Olivia nodded, "I promise Amanda. Thank you."

Amanda said nothing and after a while went off to attend to her property. After a while, Olivia asked to be helped to the bathroom. Then Amanda took her right back to the chair outside. Eventually, Amanda went to sit back by her and they started talking again. After a while Amanda went off to hunt again for dinner; this time she brought back rabbit. It was during this meal that Olivia began to grow tired so Amanda let her finish eating before helping her back inside to the nest. Olivia said good night to Coffee. Once inside, the blonde checked on the brunette's slowly healing wounds and then the human fell right to sleep. Amanda watched her affectionately for a moment before shaking the feeling away and going outside to guide the horse inside for the night. Now that she had seen her human was alive, the horse seemed to completely trust the winged-being. She nuzzled Amanda with her nose for a moment before going inside and easily allowing Amanda to close the door. Then Amanda routinely checked over everything before heading inside. The next day was a repeat of the previous day and so was the day after that. On this day, Olivia suggested to Amanda that she ride Coffee around for a while to give her some exercise. "She'll go soft with all this food and grass to snack on and no exercise," Olivia joked as she patted her horse's belly. Knowing she was being teased, the horse huffed air noisily out of her nose.

Amanda shook her head, "No. I couldn't."

"Why not?" Olivia looked at her curiously.

Amanda stayed silent. She didn't really have an answer expect that the wind could blow her cape and reveal her true form. But obviously she couldn't tell the human that. So she sighed, letting those pleading brown eyes get to her. "Should I ride with the saddle or without?"

Olivia smiled widely as Amanda gave in and answered, "Ride bareback. She loves it." So Amanda held the cape tightly around her midsection and used the chair to get on top. Olivia looked up at her, "Why don't you ride her for like an hour or so? Let her run and jump over stuff and whatnot. I trust you'll keep her safe?"

Amanda's eyes widened at that. She hadn't realized until just now the trust Olivia was putting in her. She was letting her ride off on her companion into a monster infested woods. Amanda quickly nodded, "Yes, of course I'll keep her safe. We won't be gone long and, if there's any sign of trouble, I'll charge back here."

Olivia smiled, "Off you go then." With that she slapped Coffee's rear, with just enough force to signal that she could take off. And take off the horse did. Amanda almost fell backwards as Coffee ran towards the trees. She jumped over Amanda's fence and continued out of Olivia's sight. Amanda could feel the horse's excitement and eagerness to run. Suddenly, she realized that the poor creature must have been getting bored with just grazing and standing around with her human and caretaker. So she gripped tightly onto Coffee's mane and leaned down closer so the animal could run to her heart's desire. She weaved through the trees and jumped over roots, bushes, and stumps. After a few minutes, the horse's excitement and carefree joy seeped into Amanda and she found herself smiling and laughing as she enjoyed the ride. After a while, the horse slowed and Amanda took the opportunity to shed and fold up her cape. Slowly, so as not to startle the horse, she unfolded her wings and spread them out. Coffee perked up, as if remembering the day she and Amanda raced through the woods to save Olivia. In silent agreement, the horse allowed Amanda to stretch and get ready to flap. Then, when the winged-being was ready, the horse took off again. Amanda flapped and the two creatures bolted forward even faster. Coffee nickered enthusiastically and went faster, encouraging Amanda to flap harder and faster. The two beings zoomed through the trees; together, their combined efforts made them impossibly fast. Now that the dire need to save Olivia wasn't distracting them both, they were able to wonder in awe of their speed. Neither being had ever gone this fast before; everything passed by them in a blur. The exhilaration of it was incredible.

Finally, the horse slowed and Amanda let her wings act as a brake. They came to a stream and Amanda let Coffee drink. She jumped off and shook out all her muscles before folding her wings against her back. She too crouched to drink. The last few days of barely using her wings left them already feeling the burn of their run. Her own wounds had healed completely by the previous day though so the only thing weakening her was her lack of exercise. She chuckled through her drink. "Guess we both needed to prevent growing soft, huh girl?" The horse flicked her ears as if in agreement. When Amanda had had her fill she got up and leaned back to crack her back. She was just about to jump back on Coffee's back when, she heard a rustling behind her. She and Coffee both froze as they looked toward the sound. Amanda strained her eyes and ears. Usually, the dragons just came bearing down on their target but, when they came upon Amanda, every once in a while, they would stalk and surprise her since they knew she was a more formidable opponent than anything else in the forest. After a moment, there was a growl and the rustling grew louder. Amanda knew the dragon knew it lacked the element of surprise now and decided to just come at her. She didn't wait. She launched into the air and on to Coffee's back. The horse didn't need to be told; she bolted. Amanda heard it behind them and she flapped her wings. Amanda could hear the dragon's snarls of anger as it tried to catch up. Coffee ran faster; Amanda flapped harder. Amanda the dragon falling behind but it was still trying to follow. She guided Coffee through the trees and towards home. She heard the dragon roaring in frustration and could tell it was falling even farther behind and giving up. Amanda felt a small amount of relief but wouldn't allow herself to celebrate getting away until they were home and inside. Finally, Amanda's property came into view. Coffee jumped over the fence before running towards Olivia, who was resting in the sun. When she heard them coming however, she sat up in confusion and alarm. Amanda jumped off Coffee, unsheathing her weapon, spreading her wings as far as they would go, and turned to face the direction the dragon had been coming in. She could still hear it out there, roaring and growling its anger, but it was farther away, as if it had turned around. She listened harder to see if other dragons had been attracted to the noises. When she deemed it safe, she relaxed, letting her wings drop and fold against her, her weapon lowering back into its holster. She turned around to face Olivia and Coffee but froze when she saw the human's face. It was then Amanda realized she had not covered herself with her cape. She had displayed her wings widely, arching them in a protective manner. She had allowed Olivia to see her true form. She paled as she waited for the human's reaction.

Olivia was frozen. She had stood when she saw Coffee and Amanda coming. Her horse had come to stand close behind her protectively, but Olivia's eyes were watching with shock and fear as Amanda lifted into the air with a flap of her wings. Her WINGS! She watched as the blonde pulled out her sword and turned her back to her and Coffee giving Olivia a better-than-she-was-ready-for view of her blue limbs. Her eyes roamed over the blue flaps of skin, the blue-scaled shafts, and the parts of her back where the wings were connected. Her muscles were tight, ready to fight, to defend. Ready to defend Olivia. But all Olivia could see when she looked at Amanda were the wild dragons out in the forest. The savage beasts who had killed and eaten many of her men, many of the cities men. The ravenous creatures who she had fought with and ripped out the hearts of. The beings she hated and feared. And she had been under the care of one! She had slept in its den and eaten its food! She had let it ride her horse and bind her wounds! Olivia felt sick. She quickly reached out to use Coffee as a support so she wouldn't fall from her suddenly very-unsteady legs. "What are you?" she gasped.

Amanda swallowed and held up her hands, "Olivia. It's not what you think. I mean you no harm."

"The fuck you don't!" Olivia unexpectedly snapped, anger welling inside her. "Look at you! Everything about you tells me you mean me harm!"

The winged-being flinched and stepped back. Softly, she said, "Why- Why don't you g-go inside? I'll leave you alone. I'll stay out here. And-"

"I'm not staying here with you!" Olivia yelled, beginning to walk off with Coffee, not even feeling the protest of her side wound and the sudden bursting of a few stitches.

Amanda went after her, "No! Wait! Please! You'll hurt yourself. Your wounds aren't healed enough yet. Just take it easy."

"Take it easy! Take it easy?" she snarled in disbelief.

"Yes! Look, I swear, I'll leave you alone. Just go inside. I'll leave food and water." It was then that Amanda saw the bandage on the woman's side reddening. "You're bleeding."

Olivia paused and looked down. Seeing the blood, she was instantly aware of the pain. She hissed. "I don't care," she snarled. Amanda wanted to help and took a step forward but Olivia looked at her with a fierce glare and ordered, "Stay away from me."

Amanda flinched and backed away, ignoring the flash of hurt. "Okay. Easy. Look, just go back inside and fix it okay?"

Olivia continued to glare as she thought. The creature had a point. Obviously she couldn't get far without reopening her wounds and, if that happened, she'd probably bleed to death before she could get home. She growled. She felt trapped, but at least she was trapped somewhere with medical supplies. Using Coffee as a crutch, she walked back to the house. Once she was through the threshold, she tried to pull Coffee in with her, but the door wasn't big enough. She growled again; she didn't want to leave her horse outside with the monsters. Amanda called, "I'm not going to hurt her either."

Olivia just huffed. She supposed she didn't have a choice anyway. So she gently told Coffee to go away before she glared a warning at Amanda one last time before she slammed the door. Amanda winced. She wanted to scream and cry and fly away, but she just stood there. She listened to the human as she hissed in pain as she redid her stitches and wrappings. She wanted to help, but she forced herself to respect the human's boundaries and stay outside. She retracted her senses and walked to the far side of her property. She sat down heavily, let her wings sag in defeat on the ground, and put her head in her hands as she mentally berated herself. She felt a presence and looked up momentarily to see Coffee standing over her with a curious look. She patted the horse's nose and it went back to grazing while Amanda went back to holding her head.

Inside the cabin, Olivia was fuming. She was angry with Amanda for being a monster and hiding it from her. She was mad at herself for starting to trust Amanda. She was mad at her injuries for keeping her here when she just wanted to get away. She flinched as she attended her wounds a little too hard. The one on her side had reopened but she wouldn't be able to sew it with her shaky hands right then. She tried to calm down, but she was filled with anger and fear. She knew she had to get away. She couldn't stay here. With a dragon. Logic be damned. She didn't care if she bled out before she got far; it was better than staying here. She knew she had to make a break for it. She looked out the window and saw Amanda sitting on the ground with Coffee nearby. She quickly gathered her things, forcing herself not to feel the pain. She looked around and spotted the skillet Amanda used to cook. She grabbed it. Slowly, she made her way outside. She had one shot at this. Logically, she knew that the dragon should hear her coming. But she was too determined to escape that she just kept creeping closer. Despite what she expected, the blonde never heard her coming until it was too late. The blonde had begun to turn around when Olivia swung the pan with all her might. It gonged as it slammed into the side of Amanda's head, and the dragon fell onto her side.

Olivia sighed in relief and dropped the pan before moving to get on Coffee. "Come on girl. We're getting out of here."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: still the same

Note: I hope I don't sound annoying when I say thank you again to all who have commented/favorited/followed this. My gratitude is never ending and I will continue to thank you for your awesomeness. To those of you who expressed concern over the situation with my mother, it can't be helped; we just can't coexist. We're like oil and water. Actually, we're worse than that. Though I don't know exactly what that would be lol. Like literally, a piece of me dies when she talks to me, and she blocks my creative flow. AND she wouldn't let me sleep! So all that combines to mean that I literally could not write while she was around. So I've decided that, if this summer is gonna be a repeat of this last week, then the weeks where my mother is at work I'm going to write at least two chapters. So I'll have something to post each week. I don't like it. But it'll do. Anyway. Here's the next part. Hope you enjoy!

~~~~SVU~~~~

When Amanda awoke, the sun was beginning to set and the side of her head throbbed. She groaned as she sat up. She reached up to gently touch her head and gasped in pain. She pulled her head away and found her fingertips stained with mostly-congealed blood. At least it wasn't fresh and didn't seem to still be bleeding. She wondered what had happened for a moment before it all came slamming back to her. The dragon chasing her and Coffee back to her property. Revealing her true self to Olivia and Olivia's shocked, fearful, angry reaction. She had sat in the grass while she gave Olivia time to calm down, hoping she could explain once the brunette didn't want to kill her anymore. She had been too deep in thought to hear the footsteps until it was too late. She'd begun to turn around when a force slammed into her head, knocking her out. She quickly stood, thankful when she didn't feel dizzy- only a little slow. She staggered a few steps before steadying as she walked back to her house and looked inside. "Olivia?" she called, hoping she'd find the human even though she knew she wouldn't. "Olivia?" she called again. She rushed to the barn and shouted, "Olivia? Coffee?" She roamed her eyes around the property, beginning to panic. She looked out into the woods. Had Olivia really been stupid enough to go out into the woods- the dragon-infested woods- alone and wounded? Had she really been that desperate to get away? Well, of course she was. She had just found out Amanda wasn't human. Amanda knew how it looked it. Her wings, the scales on the shafts that arose from her back. It didn't take a genius to compare Amanda to the dragons. A part of Amanda truly understood and forgave Olivia for her fear, rage, and need to escape. But there was another part of Amanda that screamed, "I AM NOT LIKE THEM! I'M DIFFERENT!" After all, she had risked her life to help Olivia, despite knowing that it would end this way. She had only wanted to help. And it offended Amanda that Olivia was so blinded by her hatred and horror that she had done what she did instead of allowing Amanda to explain. The crueler part of her, the part that was still hurt by what Dean had done to her and her people, the part of her that didn't want to care about anyone but herself especially not the humans, was saying, "Let her go. She wants to face the dragon-infested woods at night alone and wounded? Let her. You tried to help, and look what she did. Some gratitude for saving her life, huh? Just let her get killed." And Amanda seriously considered it. For about a minute. And then she was growling at herself for caring as she whisked back into her home to grab her weapons (which she would've thought Olivia would've taken) and bow and arrow.

She could still smell the trail left behind by the human and her horse. Olivia either didn't know that Amanda could smell that well or didn't care for one reason or another. If Amanda remembered the territory correctly, Olivia was heading for Sundaria. It was closer, Amanda thought, and the human's wounds would be hurting. Amanda flew through the trees, on the trail of Olivia's scent. Eventually, she realized she was going in a wide circle, and she paused in shocked. Maybe Olivia had thought about it more and prepared for Amanda to follow her. Amanda growled again in frustration; Olivia wasn't going to make this easy was she? So Amanda back tracked slightly, widening her search area, and eventually picked up on another trail. Until that one stopped dead. Amanda wanted to lash out, but forced the fury away as she, once again, turned around and scented again. The sun was disappearing fast and the dragons were getting loud. They loved the summer nights; it was warm and full of nighttime prey that they could easily stalk with the cover of darkness. She prayed that they wouldn't find Olivia before she did. Amanda grew even more concerned when she smelled blood. It wasn't overwhelming like it would be if it accompanied a body, but it was strong enough. Amanda inhaled deeper; it was definitely Olivia's. The wounds in her side must've been torn open again. Sure enough, a few feet down the trail, Amanda noticed the bandage that she had wrapped around the soldier. She picked it up and discovered it soaked in blood. She looked closer and saw that Olivia had left some of her blood behind. That was definitely not good. It would only attract the dragons even more so than before.

It was night now and Amanda was beginning to grow more and more afraid. Olivia's trail seemed all over the place and there was a lot of blood. The dragons were noisier than usual, probably having scented the blood. The blonde knew she had to find the human quick. Just then, she heard it. The roars of the dragons and loud neighs of a horse. She flew as fast as she could towards the sounds. She came to the bottom of a cliff. With their backs turned to her, three dragons were snarling, roaring, and lashing out as they grew closer and closer to the side of the cliff. Beyond them, their backs getting pressed closer to the rocks were Olivia and Coffee. Coffee was guarding her human as best she could, kicking at the dragons when they got too close. Olivia was on her knees, looking like she just barely had enough energy to be upright; her shirt was soaked and dripping with blood. She was holding her sword and slicing at the dragons if they got beyond Coffee, but her movements were weak. Amanda, knowing she couldn't stand a chance against three dragons at once, launched upwards above the scene before dropping to the ground between the dragons and Olivia and Coffee. Ignoring the gasp of surprise behind her, she spread her wings out as far as they would go, held herself as straight and tall as possible, opened her arms wide to each side, and, with her eyes glowing with fury, let out as loud a roar as she could muster. Surprised by her interruption, the three dragons took a few steps back, crouching closer to the ground slightly at the loud thunder that was her roar. It vaguely occurred to Amanda that she had never roared so loud in her life- not even when she'd been able to fully transform into a dragon when she was younger. Then, as if remembering their prey, the creatures stood tall again and roared back in challenge. Amanda snarled and gave one powerful flap of her wings, pushing the dragons back even further with her wind. The dragons looked uneasy but continued to try to challenge her. Amanda roared again, hovering off the ground slightly. She gave another couple flaps of her wings, jerking the dragons back even when they dug their claws into the ground; one even almost fell backwards. She let her blue eyes glow even brighter as she fought for dominance. In a show of submission, two dragons immediately cowered, lowering their wings to the ground, bowing their heads, and running away whimpering. One dragon foolishly stayed. Amanda could hear the gurgling in its throat that she knew all too well. She braced her wings. The dragon opened its mouth and fire erupted out towards Amanda. But she was ready; she gave another powerful blast of her wings. Whatever fire wasn't immediately extinguished turned its direction back towards the dragon. It singed its face and it howled in surprise and pain as it ran blindly back into the woods.

Amanda dropped to the ground once again with a snort of finality; she watched the tree line for a moment before feeling satisfied that she'd scared the dragons off. Then, not relaxing any part of her body in preparation for another fight, she turned to face Olivia. Olivia was still on her knees, both stunned and afraid by what she'd just witnessed. But as the seconds ticked by, she realized she was also completely and utterly fascinated. For the moment, as the last few minutes took their time sinking in, her mind was simply blank as she stared at her three-time rescuer. When Amanda realized Olivia wasn't going to attack her just yet, she snarled, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Her wings were still erect, her body still stiff and tall, her hands clenched in fists at her sides, that furious, bright, blue light still emanating from her eyes, and there was a thick path of dried blood on the side of her head from earlier. Amanda, despite her small size and skinny body, looked like an absolutely terrifying and powerful being. Olivia knew the blonde was furious with her and could easily tear her to pieces. And yet, all the fear and fury she'd felt towards Amanda earlier, was gone. In its place was only awe. She could not yet speak. So Amanda continued harshly, "Are you satisfied? You were so quick to label me a threat that you almost got yourself killed. Again! I only wanted to help you, and if you had just given me some time to explain you would've realized that I truly meant you no harm."

Olivia's mind caught up then. It all registered. That show of power- it had all been for her. Somehow, despite what she had done, despite her quick, hurtful judgment and lashing out, Amanda had come after her, to protect her, to save her once again. Only this time it was Olivia's own fault. Amanda was right; if she had given the blonde a chance, they could've come to an understanding and Olivia might not have almost been killed. Again. And not only did her rash actions put herself in danger but Coffee and Amanda too. She instantly felt very, very ashamed. She dropped her weapon and dropped her head in guilt. In a small voice, she responded, "I'm sorry."

Amanda, still feeling furious with the human, scoffed, "Whatever." She allowed the light glowing in her eyes die and her wings fold anyway. She was about to say something sarcastic about Olivia letting her near enough to fix her bandage when she heard noises behind her. She whirled around as she listened. It seemed that the faceoff had attracted attention. Several dragons were making their way towards them. Amanda thought quickly as she looked around. She looked back up at the rock-face and was relieved to spy a small cave. Quickly, she spoke, "Olivia. We have to hide. There are more coming. Now, there's a cave that should fit the two of us if you are willing, but-"

"Yes," Olivia interrupted, her newfound trust in Amanda making her willing to do whatever the blonde thought best. "Whatever it is, yes."

Amanda gave her an incredulous look. "I will have to fly you up to it," she warned.

Olivia nodded, "I understand. Do it."

Amanda didn't waste any more time. She surged forward, unfolding her wings, and, once she had a good grip on Olivia, lifted them into the air. She placed Olivia on the ledge and ordered, "Make sure it's clear. I'll send Coffee away." She flew back down without waiting for a response. She grabbed Coffee's bridle and pulled her away from the cliff before saying, "Run and hide Coffee." She gave the horse a harsh slap on the rear and she took off. Amanda hoped she'd be okay as she flew back up to the cave. She landed on the edge and hurried, "Gimme your shirt." Thankfully, Olivia didn't protest and quickly did as told, peeling the soaked, bloody shirt from her body and handing it over. Amanda tossed it back down to the ground, hoping it would both distract the dragons and lessen the scent of blood coming from them. Then she asked, "Is it clear?"

From the darkness, she heard, "It's clear."

"Alright," she explained, "Get as far back as you can." She followed Olivia deeper into the darkness. It was shallow, and it shrank quickly; both woman had to crawl on hands and knees only a few yards from the entrance. But once there was nowhere left to go, Amanda turned around to face the opening. She readied her bow and arrow expertly even without sight and kept it trained on the entrance with Olivia a few feet behind her. She could hear the dragons bursting into the clearing below the cliff. She could tell they were searching for clues as to where the bleeding human went. When one flew passed the opening, Amanda spread herself out, hoping that her scent would cover and block Olivia's. As if sensing the need to hide her scent, Olivia moved closer to Amanda. Gently, she reached out a hand to touch Amanda's back to let her know she was there before sliding within inches of the winged being. She trembled in both fear and pain on the floor of the small cave. A few moments went by. Another shadow passed over the entrance. A few minutes more and there went another. Amanda stiffened when it returned, pausing at the opening and sniffing. The dragon tried looking into the darkness. Amanda could tell by the flaring nostrils and look in its eyes that it could smell them, but it was hesitant to come inside, almost afraid. Interesting. Finally, the dragon snarled and huffed in disappointment and frustration before flying away. Amanda listening further and could hear the rest dispersing one by one back into the forest too. Amanda waited until she was sure they were gone before relaxing and lowering her bow. She asked in a whisper, "Still with me Olivia?"

Olivia nodded through the pain, "Yah."

Amanda quickly turned her eyes back on and used the small amount of light to look at the human's wound. It was still bleeding and Amanda's stomach lurched at the scent of a slight infection. Like back when she had first saved Olivia, Amanda instinctively knew she had to bleed into the wound again. But since Olivia was awake this time around, she warned, "This may feel odd but it helps." She quickly bit into her wrist and used her sharp canines to cut herself open. She held it over Olivia's wounds as a stream of blood oozed out.

Olivia gasped slightly in surprised as the warm liquid flowed over and into her, "It tingles."

After a moment, Amanda explained, "My blood heals faster than humans'. It will help fight off the infection and heal the wounds." When she was satisfied enough of her blood had been given, she licked her bite marks closed and then ripped off a strip of her shirt. This time around, she wasn't so gentle as she wrapped Olivia as best she could. The human knew she deserved the rough treatment so she held back her gasps of pain. After checking over her work, Amanda turned off her eyes and moved away. Coldly, she said, "We'll have to stay here 'til morning. The dragons in the area will still be looking for you. We'll leave in the morning around sunbathing time. Try to rest."

Olivia frowned as she wondered how she could possibly sleep in a place like this, with her heart still hammering in fear and her side throbbing with pain and cold, hard rocks not making that any easier. She could hear Amanda moving even farther away from her, probably with keeping a lookout in mind, and she frowned even deeper. She felt her heart thump painfully at the thought of being left alone and she gasped, "Wait!" When Amanda paused, Olivia tried to explain awkwardly, "Don't… I want… Can you…?"

Somehow knowing what the soldier wanted from her, Amanda sighed and slid back to her. Olivia reached out and, with demanding hands, pulled Amanda closer. Despite her shock, unease, and lingering anger, Amanda went pliantly as Olivia pulled her against her side. Amanda sat with her back against the wall of the cave and Olivia used her lap like a pillow. Instinct caused Amanda to cover Olivia with her wings to create an effective blanket. Almost instantly, Olivia began to feel warmer in the cocoon. She relaxed as she grew more comfortable- well as much as anyone could laying on the cold, hard ground. Amanda stayed a still as possible, looking out the cave entrance, ready for anything. For a while, there was silence. And then finally, Olivia murmured, "I'm sorry. For the way I treated you, for hitting you, for making you come rescue me again, for putting us both in danger because I was too stupid. For everything. I'm really sorry."

There was a pause as Amanda thought those words over. She both did and didn't want to believe the human. But she couldn't deny the sound of truth in the woman's voice. She felt the weight of her hurt and anger leave her and she murmured, "I forgive you."

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little deeper into Amanda, who continued to hold her in her wings and keep watch through the night.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Olivia didn't sleep. Not really. She might have gotten an hour or so. But mostly she just sat by Amanda's side, shivering in pain and cold. Amanda held the human helplessly, wishing she could take away her pain and make her warmer but knowing she'd have to wait for morning. Amanda waited until the sun was high enough in the sky for her to know that the dragons would sunbathing before rising the human out of her light sleep. Olivia groaned as she followed Amanda to the opening. On the ledge, she stood upright and stretched her sore, cold, stiff body. Several bones cracked making Amanda cringe. She waited until the human gave her the ready signal to be lowered to the ground. Amanda carefully set her down. "Wait here. I'll go find Coffee." She followed the horse's scent. She was impressed when she found the four-legged animal lying hidden in a thick patch of bushes. She led her back to her human where they greeted each other warmly then Amanda helped Olivia on to Coffee's back.

"Aren't you getting on?" Olivia asked as she breathed through the pain.

Amanda gave her confused look. When Olivia continued to look openly at her, she shook away her confusion over the human's sudden trust of her. She lifted herself to sit behind the human, ignoring the warmth she felt when she wrapped her arms around the soldier's waist. Olivia too ignored the flip in her stomach at Amanda's closeness and set Coffee forward and a walk. She wasn't sure if she could handle a canter at the moment. They walked in silence for a while before Olivia's curiosity could no longer be contained. "Okay. So tell me. What are you exactly?" she asked without accusation, "Because I saw your wings and scales but you're obviously not like the rest of the dragons."

"I am a dragon shapeshifter," Amanda said, bluntly honest. "As the rest of the dragons used to be."

Olivia looked over her shoulder in confusion, "Wait. Shapeshifter? Used to be? What do you mean?"

"A long time ago, dragons were large, winged, fire-breathing creatures," Amanda explained her people's history from the very beginning. The never-ending war between humans and dragons, the dragons being hunted to extinction, the dragon-dame being gifted by the young wizard with the power to transform into both human and dragon form, how she spread her gift and giving the dragons a way to survive and thrive, how Amanda was born into this world of shape-shifting dragons. She even told Olivia her biggest secret; how she had found, helped, and fell in love with a human named Dean, how, when she had revealed herself to him, he betrayed her by kidnapping her, imprisoning her, infecting her with some kind of disease she didn't know, and making her unwillingly spread it to her people. She spoke of how she watched her family get sick while she healed sort of, how they eventually snapped, changing into the half-dragon, half-human creatures they were today, how they lost their humanity one by one around her. She told Olivia of the day her mother snapped, the despair and horror she had felt at seeing her mother freeze in her movements of tending the garden as her body began to vibrate, how she had collapsed to her knees as her body began to change, the snarl that burst from her mouth as Amanda's father had tried to help her. She had sliced at him as the last of her humanity disappeared and she flew into the trees. A few days later, her father snapped and was gone too. Amanda did her best to care for her sister. By that time, there were only few left in the village and they were only just barely hanging on by a thread. Amanda recalled how she had heard those left saying they could feel the disease seeping deeper and deeper, how they could literally feel their skin as if it had a life of its own. There was a numbness around their minds in the final days. Amanda shuddered as she told of how her sister had cried for her, had begged Amanda to help her, how much it hurt. Amanda was there when her sister's eyes clouded over and her body began to change. It was then that Amanda ran, ran from the village, from her past, from her grief. Or tried to anyway. Her guilt and pain followed her. Amanda couldn't save her baby sister and now she was gone. She couldn't save any of them. She was the reason it happened in the first place. And finally, she told Olivia of the years she spent alone in her cabin, wallowing in grief. By the time she was done, she had silent tears cascading down her face that she did not bother to hide or stop.

Olivia felt even worse than she did before. She felt incredibly guilty at her actions now. It struck her how history had repeated itself for the dragon-woman. Amanda had helped a human and later risked everything when she told him about herself, and he had betrayed her. Just as Olivia had done. Olivia could only imagine what had been going through Amanda's mind when she'd revealed herself. To both humans. It had to be even worse now though considering that there had to have been a part of Amanda's mind that knew what was going to happen, that Olivia would react badly. And Olivia had done everything that the blonde expected. Her opinions of humans must be extremely low. How could the blonde ever trust anyone- trust her ever again? In an effort to comfort Amanda while on top her horse, she held Amanda's arms closer to her stomach and said quietly over her shoulder, "I'm sorry that happened to you. That all of this has happened to you. You don't deserve it. Not back then and certainly not now. I wish I could do something to... I don't know, take it back or help you in some way."

Amanda shrugged but didn't say anything. She appreciated the woman's attempt to comfort her and apologize, but she didn't believe that she didn't deserve what had happened. And somehow Olivia knew it. She vowed that, not only would she earn back and exceed whatever trust she had had before, but she would somehow find a way to improve Amanda's life and mindset. After a moment, Amanda spoke, "We should probably try to go a little faster. It's getting later in the day."

Olivia nodded and bravely braced herself for a rougher ride. She pressed her feet into Coffee's sides and urged her to go faster. She hissed at the first trot-like steps, but focused on breathing. When she was ready for more, she pushed Coffee into a lazy canter. Olivia grimaced again but willed herself to get used to it. Amanda kept one hand gently pressed to Olivia's side wound in hopes of keeping it closed. It didn't quite work, but it would have bled more otherwise. She hoped Olivia could hold on until they made it back to her home. Finally, the house came into view. They went right up to the door before Amanda helped Olivia down and inside. She guided the human to the nest and when she was laid down, began working on her wound. She peeled off the shirt bandage, let more of her blood into the wound, washed the access blood away, and bandaged it up once again. Olivia sighed in relief when she realized Amanda's blood helped numb the pain. "Thank you."

Amanda smiled slightly and dipped her head. "Why don't you sleep for a while? I'll go hunt and wake you when your food is ready."

Olivia shook her head, "No. You didn't sleep at all last night. You should sleep too."

"You need to eat Olivia."

"And I will. Later. After we've both rested."

Amanda sighed. She could tell the soldier wasn't going to let this go. And it was true that Amanda was exhausted. She was ready to give in as those brown eyes gaped up at her. Hesitantly, she asked, "Will you wake me if you awaken before me? Or when you get hungry?"

Olivia nodded, "Of course."

"Alright." Amanda went over to the make-shift nest she'd made and fell down into it. She circled as she gathered the furs and clothes closer before she laid down. Olivia chuckled and Amanda looked back at her with a confused expression.

"You look like a cat," the brunette laughed.

Amanda snorted with a smile and curled up tighter, draping her wings over her. Olivia watched with an amused, fascinated smile as the blue wings covered most of the blonde's body like a blanket. When she stopped moving, all Liv could see was the blue, egg-like shape among the furs and clothing. She waited until the slight up-and-down movement of the wings slowed and signaled that the dragon-woman was asleep before getting more comfortable herself. She draped one fur blanket over her and leaned back. As exhausted as she was, she could sleep yet. Her mind kept going over what Amanda had told her earlier. Olivia's heart broke for the woman. In the week that she had known Amanda, Amanda had been nothing but kind and helpful. She had proven to be a good caretaker for the injured human. There didn't seem to be a mean bone in Amanda's body. And yet, she was perfectly capable of tearing Olivia apart. The blonde was certainly brave and powerful as well. The scene from last night replayed in Liv's mind. She remembered feeling certain that she was going to die, whether from blood loss or from the dragons. And then Amanda was there, literally dropping from the sky to place herself between the dragons and Liv and Coffee. She hadn't realized that a show of dominance with the dragons was possible when Amanda spread herself wide and tall and roared, demanding the dragons back off. It had been a loud roar too, one that echoed around them and into the forest. And that light that had glowed in her eyes? She couldn't recall ever seeing a wild dragon do that. Was that something they'd been able to do back when they were able to transform back and forth? Or was that unique for Amanda? And how had she known how to do any of that in the first place? Had that happened before? Certainly, Amanda had seemed to know what she was doing. Liv had a lot of questions about Amanda. And she was determined to ask them. But there were other priorities at the moment. First they needed to sleep. Then they needed to eat. And probably rest and eat again. But once they had recovered from the previous night, Olivia would try to sate her curiosity.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: this part is annoying but I feel it necessary

Note: Wow. Okay. I know I say it before every chapter, but thank you for all the comments/favorites/follows or just simply stopping by to read. It gives me such a good feeling. And you guys are so encouraging! You know, you can say something not-so-nice if you want; I promise I wont take it badly. But if you truly don't have anything negative to say than I'm glad too lol. Just wanted to put it out there since several of you have expressed concerns over it, I promise that there will be a happy ending. I don't think I have it in me to write a tragedy because I like happy endings too much lol. Also, not to give too much away I hope, but there is some foreshadowing in this chapter. If you care to take a guess, feel free. Enjoy!

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Amanda and Olivia spent the entire next day sleeping, only waking up just before sunset by their hungry stomachs. Amanda hunted and cooked as quickly (and lazily) as possible, despite Olivia's protests that fruits and vegetables from the garden would be sufficient, and together they devoured the meal. Amanda checked on Liv's wounds before they once again returned to sleep. When they next awoke, it was midday the next day. They both felt much better after their rest. Olivia's side was still painful, but she was shocked to see, the next time Amanda redid the wrappings, that the wounds looked less red and even more closed-up than she expected. According to Amanda, her dragon-blood had chased away the infection and was now working to heal and sew the wound quicker than Liv's would on its own. With the human's permission, she let more of her blood flow into it, earning a sigh of relief from Liv. "It numbs the pain," she explained when Amanda gave her a questioning look. Amanda was pleased she was able to help in such a way. She hunted and cooked again. They were eating in silence when Olivia declared it time to ask her questions. "So now that I know what you are, am I allowed to ask you questions? 'Cause I gotta tell ya, I'm really curious."

Amanda chuckled, "I supposed there is no harm in that; I expected you would be. Ask away."

Olivia grinned before asking one of her questions at random, "What did you look like when you could transform into a dragon?"

"We were all generally smaller than what the dragons had been before we could transform, and females are smaller than males, but by human standards I was big and tall enough that I would probably just barely fit in this room. My scales were blue, darker than my eyes but not as dark as my wings are. I had two horns on the crest of my head, black claws, long teeth. I looked as most of my kind looked, but my father and several of the other males in the villages used to tell me my dragon form was beautiful- that I would be quite desirable when I reached full maturity."

"Could you breathe fire?"

Amanda shook her head, "No. Only mature dragons can. I was only teenaged when everything happened."

"How come only mature dragons can do it? Is that why not every dragon who attacks us breaths fire on us?"

"We have an organ we call our fire bladder that isn't fully developed until maturity. It's somewhere close to our lungs," she pointed to the center of her chest to demonstrate where it was, "It's basically this sac that's full of a combustible gas. When a dragon wants to breathe fire, it opens the sac so air gets in and ignites the gas. Then we just expel the fire, like a human would a belch. And yes. That is why only some of the dragons you've come across breathe fire. When the change happened, it stopped their aging."

This made Olivia pause as a thought occurred to her, "But what about the children of your village? Or infants? Did they change?"

Amanda looked down in sadness, "The disease killed may children and infants. Some, if they were on the cusp of teenagehood, were able to make it to their teenage years before they changed. Any pregnant female lost her child before she snapped."

They fell into a moment of silence as Liv allowed Amanda to grieve. Then she cleared her throat and changed the subject, "What other abilities did you have?"

Glad for the subject change, Amanda looked back up, "Well, young dragons, since they could not breathe fire, were able to expel a thick, acidic fluid while in dragon form. Before the fire bladder fully develops and is able to produce gas, it produces this fluid that a younger dragon can use. It would corrode basically anything, and it stank incredibly bad. Just the smell could disorient a foe. We were taught at a young age to fight though the instinct was inside all of us at birth. We have incredible night vision and senses in general. Flight is a given. Um… Oh, we used to eat metal and gold with our meals because it would make our scales stronger and brighter in color… I think that's basically it. Every dragon had those abilities; some even had more. Our leader, for example, had the power of telekinesis, which had been passed down through his family for generations. I had a childhood friend who could control plants. Dragons were always very close with magic though, after the gift was spread, that was watered down a bit; human bodies aren't the best hosts for magic even if it is possible."

Olivia was fascinated to being learning so much. "What about that eye-glowing thing you can do?"

Amanda's face suddenly took on a sheepish look, "Actually I had no idea I could do that. Supposedly, that is supposed to be a purely Alpha-dragon ability." At Olivia's look of confusion, she explained, "Alpha dragons are the leaders. They're special from birth. Our leader was an Alpha. They're usually born into a family where at least one of their parents was an Alpha. They have more abilities than average dragons, are bigger, stronger, faster, and are able to speak telepathically with those under their status as well as with their mate. They're natural-born leaders and usually seek out leadership. I had never seen this but I used to be told that, when an Alpha wants to let others know he or she is an Alpha or when he or she wants to challenge another Alpha, their eyes and maybe other parts of their body glow and they…" Amanda trailed off, getting a faraway look in her eyes.

"What?" Olivia pressed, "They what?"

Amanda's eyes blankly locked back onto Olivia's, "They behave exactly as I did at the cliff."

They both paused in shock. Then Olivia asked, "So are you an Alpha?"

Amanda seemed to think that over before she got this horrified look on her face, "No! No. I- I can't be. Neither of my parents were. Or anyone else in my family as far as I know."

"But you said they're only usually born into it," Liv pointed out.

Amanda gaped like a fish, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Then she finally said, "I'm not bigger or stronger or faster! I can't communicate telepathically with anyone or have other abilities! I'm not a leader nor would I want to be!"

"I don't know," Liv said slowly, "You certainly possess the qualities of a good leader to me. You're kind; you protect; you have taken good care of my wounds. And when the disease took hold, you weren't full grown yet. So maybe you just never came into your abilities."

Amanda was silent as she thought that over. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of possibly being an Alpha-dragon. She shook herself visibly, "Whether I am, it does not matter. I am the only one left still in human form anyway. And the wild dragons cannot be controlled or ruled."

Olivia wasn't convinced. Her gut was telling her there was something there, something meaningful. But she could tell the idea was making Amanda uncomfortable, so she let it drop and asked another question, "So when you told me you eat the heart and liver of an animal raw, you said that they were tasty and high in protein. That true?"

"Well yes, but not completely," she admitted. "I do find them tasty and they are high in protein. But they also help me to control the grasp on my humanity."

Liv looked cautious, "I didn't realize that was a problem."

"Well it's not a huge problem. I mean, I don't feel like I'm going to snap at any minute. It's just… ever since I was infected, I have felt… clogged. We have- well, had a wildness in us that was released and tampered when we changed forms. Since I've been stuck like this, however, my wildness has been building up. Maybe that is what the disease did to the others, made those instincts too hard to control until they snapped. But I haven't changed like the rest; it's been slow for me. I was stuck in human form for years until my wings popped out and wouldn't go back in. That made it worse. It's like, while it happened all at once for everyone else, it's literally a step-by-incredibly-slow-step process for me. Who knows what I'll lose control of next."

Liv relaxed as Amanda trailed off, "Well you seem to have pretty good control over it all things considered."

"Practice I guess," Amanda shrugged before a sheepish look overcame her face, "I understand if that makes you nervous, if you want me to stay away."

"No," Liv responded instantly, reaching out to touch Amanda's hand; she was so focused on ridding that look from the blonde's face that she didn't recognize the bolt of electricity that went up her arm. "I don't completely understand what you're feeling but I understand enough. I've seen with my own eyes that you aren't like them, some kind of monster. So no, I don't want you to stay away. At all."

"But you would tell me if you did?" Amanda looked at her with pleading eyes.

Liv smiled kindly, "I promise."

Amanda relaxed and smiled back. It was then that they both realized Liv's hand was still resting on and gently squeezing Amanda's. They both looked down at it, but it took Liv a moment to snatch her hand away. When she did, the skin that had previously been touching the other's was tingling, and they both longed for more. Then Liv cleared her throat and forced herself to move on to another topic, "So how high can you fly?"

Amanda smiled widely, "As high as I can go before the air gets too thin."

"What's it like?"

"It's incredible," Amanda sighed dreamily, "Those years that I didn't have my wings were the worst of my life. I love to fly, to feel the air whizzing by me, the clouds passing in a blur, my wings pumping to carry me higher or faster or lying flat to divide the wind perfectly as I glide. I feel like I get as close to the heavens as anyone can get in this life. I can be up there with the clouds and the sun or the moon and the stars as my companions, and I can forget all that has happened down here. If only for a small while. It's my haven up there. I wish I could show you; words just don't do the feeling justice."

Olivia felt warm inside at the tone of Amanda's words, the lust and dreaminess. The words themselves sounded like the most beautiful poetry to Liv's ears, and she found herself wishing she could somehow go up there with Amanda just to feel what she described. She wanted to ask if it were possible, if Amanda could somehow take her flying with her, but she didn't want to come off the wrong way. So she settled with a more neutral statement, "Maybe one day I'll be able to get up there with you."

Amanda liked the idea. She wanted to offer the experience; she was pretty sure if they found the right position, Amanda could hold the human as she flew. But she wasn't sure their relationship was ready for that. Maybe one day, like Liv had said. She smiled and nodded, "Maybe."

They fell into an easy silence as they both fantasized about flying together. Then a thought occurred to Olivia, "Wait. How did you get me back here that first night? After the attack."

"I umm held you as we rode atop Coffee's back. We both worked together to get you here." At Liv's confused look, Amanda explained simply, "She ran, I flapped my wings to give us more speed."

"Like you were doing when you took her out the other day."

It wasn't a question but Amanda nodded. "Coffee loved it. I think she enjoys the speed."

Olivia chuckled, "That sounds about right. I swear that horse is just the animal version of me. When I would practice with her back home, sometimes we would just run as fast as she could go around the ring. I would close my eyes and just let her let loose." She paused as a thought occurred to her, "Ya know, you could take her out with you in the mornings or before nightfall? Make sure she gets her adrenaline fix for the day and keeps you company while you hunt for us?"

Amanda looked at the human with an indecipherable look as she asked, "You would be okay with that?"

"Well yah," Liv shrugged, "Why not? You've already done it."

Amanda looked away. She couldn't tell Liv that she didn't know how to handle this new level of trust. Sure, she had been trusted to ride Coffee before. But that had been before, before she found out what Amanda was. And that had ended very badly. Did Olivia really trust her now? Or did she just feel guilty and in-debited to Amanda? Amanda was just waiting for the moment when the human changed her mind again, when she realized she had been right back when she hated and mistrusted the dragon-woman.

"Hey," Liv said softly, refraining from touching Amanda again this time around. When Amanda looked back at her, she said softly, "I'm sorry. I don't mind saying it again. I was wrong before, to misjudge you like that. I trust you now more than ever. Truly, I do. And I'll prove it to you, no matter how long it takes."

Amanda was pleasantly shocked by that declaration. After letting the words seep in, she found herself trusting that the human would do just that. Despite her fear of being rejected again, she found herself opening to the idea of letting the human earn her trust and visa versa. She smiled, "Okay."

Liv smiled back before launching into more questions. She asked a lot of pointless things, about the forest and Amanda's village and family and whatever else she could think of, just to keep Amanda talking with her. She also told Amanda to ask about her too, though Liv had told her most of her life story already. The conversation was easy and comfortable; the two beings sitting close, talking, laughing, taking interest in everything the other had to say. Amanda slowly felt a weight being lifted off of her as the human opened herself. She found she didn't want to keep any secrets from the human and told her everything she thought of about her past. Liv responded in kind by telling her about her mother and all her exploits. Neither felt like the other judged them and it was wonderful. It was like they'd been friends for a long time rather than just a few days. Eventually, the conversation was stopped by the loud growling of Liv's hungry stomach. Amanda laughed at Liv's blush and sheepish apology and hunted and cooked as usual, noticing it was nearly night; they'd spent the whole day talking. When she brought the meal to the human, Liv smiled widely up at her and said, "I'll be fat by the time I leave here."

Amanda chuckled before the statement really sank in. She had somewhat forgotten that the human would leave. Not that Amanda expected her to stay because she didn't. She knew Liv had a life to get back to, friends and a commitment to her duty as Sergeant Assassin. But she realized she would be extremely sad to see the human go. She had grown accustomed to her being there and the ritual they had fallen into. She had grown used to not feeling alone. She wanted to ask if the human would visit again sometime when she didn't have obligations to the trade. But she couldn't ask Liv to take such a risk so she continued eating in silence, watching with amusement as the human devoured her meal like she was starving.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Almost three weeks had passed since Liv first left home for the first trade of the season. After a couple more times of sharing Amanda's blood, Liv's side wounds had almost completely healed. They would leave a nasty scar but at least they weren't infected and had closed nicely. She would be ready for travel within a few days. Liv had started light training to regain some of the strength she had lost. With Amanda's approval, she started with a half hour of exercise. She would stretch, go for a slow jog around Amanda's property, and box and/or practice with her sword before Amanda would put a firm end to things before Liv could overexert herself. Liv would pout and Amanda would have to hide her affectionate smile. Thankfully for Liv, it was only a few days when Amanda allowed her to bump it up to an hour or two. Olivia was glad to get out of the nest and back on her feet again. She begged Amanda to workout with her, to fly alongside her as she ran and give her a moving target to attack. At first, the blonde protested, content to watch the soldier and unwilling to hurt her. But the human insisted and Amanda couldn't say no to that pout for too long. So during the morning sunbathing hours, human and dragon-woman raced through the woods together. Sometimes, Liv would run while Amanda flew close by her side while other times Olivia would dare Amanda to a race. The human would run as fast as she could, taunting the dragon lightheartedly and sing-songing, "You can't catch me!" Amanda would laugh and chase after her. She could easily overtake the human while flying. But she rather enjoyed the victorious smile that would light Liv's face when she made it back to the house first. When she allowed Liv to use her for fighting practice, she gave Liv about 75 percent effort; she really didn't want to hurt the human but she knew Liv would be able to tell if she went too easy on her. At first, it was enough since Liv was only just gaining strength back. But soon, Liv was demanding that Amanda give her more. And then even more. Amanda gave in, but still made sure to hold back any moves that would harm or fell the human. She would dodge out of the way of blows, rolling across the ground, jumping out of the way, or zipping into the air. She would block punches. But anything offensive was always weaker than she was capable of. She didn't mind when, each time, Liv would eventually force her to the ground on her back or stomach and hold her sword to her neck. She would smile victoriously before helping the blonde up. They spent much of their time laughing and feeling happy and carefree. Both women could only imagine what the sight of them must look like. Two beings from different sides of an on-going war mock-fighting, racing, laughing, eating, and sleeping together in the same space.

As time went on however and Liv's wounds healed and strength came back, both women could feel Liv's departure arriving in the back of their minds, and neither was exactly happy about it. Liv was torn being missing Elliot, the other Assassins, and the life she had back in Airia and not wanting to leave Amanda. If she didn't feel like she had to go back, she would seriously consider staying with Amanda forever. But that was just it; she HAD to go back. She couldn't just abandon the job she had sworn herself to. She couldn't leave her friends, especially Elliot. She certainly couldn't let them go on thinking she was dead, which she knew they would be. It was the only logical explanation after an attack like that. After Liv didn't come home after a few days, they would've declared her dead and given an empty casket a funeral in her name. She hated to think about how her friends had taken it, how El had taken it. She wondered if Alex knew. Word of the attack had probably spread through each city in the Kingdom as usual, but even then sometimes people missed the news. However, she was fairly certain that Elliot would probably have felt it necessary to get word to Alex specifically, given that he knew their history. She wondered how Alex had handled it as she touched the necklace that was still incredibly around her neck. She felt sick at the thought of her two best friends breaking down at the news of her death. She needed to return so she could chase away their unnecessary grief. But it would be so hard to leave the blonde behind.

She wondered if she could ask Amanda to come back with her. Would that seem too forward, too weird? How would she react? She wasn't afraid that Amanda would reject her; she expected it. After all, there was no way Amanda could walk into the city with those wings of hers. Hell, she would probably not even make it beyond the edge of the woods. And even if she covered them like she had the first days Liv was with her, she would get too much attention. People would look at her oddly because of her "deformity" or even mock her. Those who didn't would want to ask about her, her life, how she knew Liv, what she was doing in the city. The more attention the higher chance of someone finding out. And Olivia was not willing to risk that. But it was obvious that Amanda wasn't happy with her life. She was lonely and constantly on the edge. She was, pardon the term, a freak to both humans and dragons alike, a being with one leg in each world. Liv wanted to give her something better. After such a short time, they were the best of friends, but Liv couldn't deny it was also something else. Liv cared about Amanda and Amanda cared about Liv. She wanted to take care of Amanda like she had done for her. She wanted to make her happy, but she didn't know how to do it. Maybe it simply wasn't possible. Maybe it would just be better to accept things as they were like Amanda had done. Yes, that's what she had to do, Liv told herself, forcing her thoughts of bring the blonde home with her from her mind. Liv belonged in her world and Amanda belonged in hers… Right?

Finally, one night as Amanda and Liv were sitting outside, finishing dinner while watching the sunset, their shoulders leaning together, Amanda reluctantly breached the subject they'd been trying so hard to avoid. "Since you're wounds are healed, if you are ready, we can leave for Airia tomorrow morning?"

Liv stayed silent for a moment, thinking that over. She wasn't ready to leave, but she knew it was time. Putting on a fake smile, she looked over at the blonde, and lied, "That sounds good." Amanda did her best to faux-smile back before they both turned to finished watching the sunset in silence though their thoughts were on the day ahead.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Por favor repita. I took a couple years of Spanish classes but I forget most of it lol.

Note: You guys really are just too kind! Seeing all your comments and favorites and follows just make my day(s). Thank you all again so much.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

When the sun rose the next morning, the two woman silently, grimly, gathered Liv's things and Amanda's weapons and set out for Liv's home. Liv rode atop Coffee while Amanda walked and flew alongside. Every so often she would fly ahead and in a wide circle around Liv to make sure they wouldn't run into any dragons before returning to her. They travelled mostly in sad silence only really talking to create a believable story about how Liv had survived the attack and recovery. They settled on Liv having been taken away from the scene by a dragon who was protective of its meal; she managed to kill it and get away but she was severely injured and took shelter in a small cave. The territory was fraught with different kinds of caverns so it wasn't too incredible a concept. Once inside said cave, Liv bandaged herself and lived off the rations she had left from the journey until she was well enough to at least scavenge for food. They worked out a few details so that Liv's story was vague but believable and agreed that Liv could just make up any other answers she needed, but she was pretty sure no one would question her too much. When they had to stop for the night, Amanda took first watch though neither of them really slept. It took them four days as expected to reach Airia. When the gates came into view midday of the final day, Olivia's heart began pounding painfully hard in her chest and her hands grew active as if she didn't know what to do with them. Amanda seemed stoic on the outside, but her wings were twitching subtly, a sign Liv had come to recognize as one of discomfort. They stopped before they got too close to the walls and turned to face one another. For a moment, they just stared into one another's eyes, their minds whirling with a thousand thoughts centered around one single thing- the desire to stay together. Finally, Amanda cleared her throat and looked beyond Liv's shoulders to the city, "Welcome home Olivia."

With that, Liv's eyes filled with tears, and she threw her arms around Amanda's shoulders, hugging her tightly and being sure not to touch her wings. She buried her nose in the crook of the blonde's neck. She felt Amanda's body tense against hers for a moment before she slowly relaxed and returned the hug just as fiercely, pushing her nose into Liv's shoulder. "I'll miss you," Liv whispered.

Amanda smiled slightly, "I'll miss you too."

They reluctantly pulled away from one another, but didn't step away. Brown eyes refused to look away from blue, as if trying to memorize the exact shape of her pupils, shade of the blue around them, and emotions shining in them at that moment. "I'll come visit you," Liv spoke suddenly.

"You don't have to do that Liv. It's too dangerous for you to be out here more than you need to be," Amanda protested weakly. She only half meant it.

Liv lifted an eyebrow, "It's even more dangerous for you. I'm going to come visit you."

Amanda knew by the tone of her voice that she'd never convince her otherwise. So she just simply nodded, "Okay."

"If the Chief will allow it, I'll be leaving for the next trade again in four days," Liv offered, "Meet up with me some time during the trip?"

There were a million good reasons why Amanda shouldn't do that. But she didn't care. The idea of never seeing Liv again was too much. She smiled, "Okay."

Liv smiled widely, happily, and Amanda felt warm inside, knowing she had made the right decision for them both. Once more, the soldier hugged Amanda. "Be safe," she whispered before pulling away again. Amanda nodded and watched as she climbed back atop Coffee. The blonde patted the horse's dark brown nose and got a loving nuzzle in return. Then Amanda stepped back. Liv looked down at her one last time. "Four days," she sternly reminded.

Amanda chuckled. "Four days," she agreed.

Liv grinned again before pushing Coffee ahead. Liv did her damnedest not to look back, but she only lasted several steps before she failed and turned around. Amanda was still watching her. Liv lifted a hand and waved. Amanda waved back, resisting the urge to chase after the human. Finally, Liv looked back around and pushed Coffee into a canter because she knew that, if they continued at that pace, she may not be able to stop from turning around. Finally, she emerged from the trees and on to the path. She could still feel Amanda's eyes following her which made her feel safe even if it also made the commitment to keep going harder. Finally, she heard the shouting of a voice she recognized. In his usual post atop the gate, was Brain Cassidy. In one hand he held his telescope while the other pointed and waved as he shouted, "The Assassin has returned! Olivia Benson has returned! Open the gates damn it! Quickly, snap to! Olivia Benson is returned!" Despite the sadness over leaving Amanda, she felt a flare of joy as the gates began to open and her home was opened to her. She could hear others shouting both from the top of the gates and inside the walls. She knew word was spreading, and she could already see people gathering just inside. She slowed Coffee and walked inside when the gates were open enough. The crowd parted to let her in as they shouted excitedly. She smiled and waved albeit awkwardly. She wasn't used to all the attention. She could see people's mouths moving but through the noise she could only make out a few things. "Where have you been?" "How did you survive?" "We thought you were dead!" "We're so relieved that you've returned alive Assassin!" She could see some familiar faces, those of her fellow soldiers, but her eyes searched for a select few specific faces. Thankfully, she heard a loud whistle and the crowd quieted. She looked to see Brian approaching. "Give her some room!" he shouted, "Go on! Off with you!" Grumbling unhappily, the crowd slowly began to back off. Olivia jumped off Coffee and reached out to accept the extended hand Brian was holding out to her. Their hands clasped each other's forearms as they pulled each other into a hug. When they stepped away, he smiled widely at her, "Damn Liv. It's good to see you."

She smiled warmly back, "It's good to be back."

"I gotta say, I'm really curious about how you've managed to survive, but I know you're dying to see Elliot and you're probably feeling overwhelmed so I'll hold my questions."

She laughed, "Thanks. You'll hear all about it once I've settled I promise. Where is El? And Fin? Nick and John are out, right?"

He nodded, "Yup! But they should be back in a few days. They'll be glad to see you. Fin is with Cragen assisting with the newest Assassin." At the confused look, Brian smiled, "Don't worry. You'll be caught up soon. A lot has happened while you were gone…" He trailed off with a faraway look that concerned Liv. But before she could ask, he focused back on her and said kindly, "Here let me take Coffee, and I'll assist you to the castle. Elliot is there too."

Liv handed him the reigns and walked alongside him towards the barn. They left Coffee with the stablehand before continuing on their way. Olivia could feel people watching her; she could hear their whispers. She could feel their curiosity and eagerness to approach her. It made her uncomfortable and she kept her eyes fixed forward. When they reached the castle, Brian sent for Cragen, Fin, Elliot, and the King-and-Queen-to-be, a term which confused Liv but she waited patiently. They were lead to the Meeting Room since it was the only place in the castle that they knew and were welcome in without further invitation. She and Brian waited in silence before she finally she heard rushed footsteps and turned to face the door. Cragen and Fin rushed into the room, their eyes widely and wildly looking around the room. When they landed on Liv, they widened even further and they both froze. Liv smiled slightly and joked, "Surprise!"

Fin choked out a laugh as he surged forward to take his favorite girl in a tight hug. Olivia hugged him back just as tightly. When he pulled away, his eyes looked around her face and he said quietly, "My God Liv. Only you could pull a feat like coming back from the dead."

She laughed. Fin moved aside so Cragen could hug her next. He murmured, "It's great to see you Liv. We're so glad you're back and okay."

"Me too. I missed you guys."

Before anybody could say anything else, they heard a shout coming from what sounded like down the hallway, "Olivia? Liv?"

Olivia's heart jerked as she recognized the voice instantly and quickly moved to the door. Walking briskly down the hall, was her best friend. Elliot jerked to a stop when he saw her. But then a few seconds later, he was running. Liv walked forward to meet him and when they reached each other, they took each other into the tightest hug either had ever experienced. Liv couldn't breathe in the slightly taller, bigger man's grip but she didn't care. She buried her face in his shoulder and felt him press his face into her shaggy hair. He was shaking violently and Liv could hear his breathing was stuttered as he tried not to cry. She rubbed his back and whispered, "It's okay El. I'm okay. I'm home."

That opened the flood gates and, despite his efforts, he was instantly sobbing into her. She squeezed him tighter, tears rushing down her own cheeks as her heart broke at his sobs. As she held him, she realized that he had lost a lot of weight. He wasn't as toned anymore and felt like he hadn't eaten much recently. She could've sworn that, as he was rushing to her, she had seen that his eyes were blood-shot and sunken in as if he also hadn't slept much. His hair, which was usually kept cut short, was unkempt, and his skin was pale. She could hear his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he continued to shake. She partially hoped that his state wasn't because of her "death", but the closeness of the hug told her otherwise. She hated that she had done this to him. Finally, his sobs slowed and his shaking died. She held him until he decided it was time to pull away. When he did, he slid his hands around to cup her face as he wildly looked over her, as if still not believing she was right there in front of him. Then his hands were gripping her shoulders and he looked as if he was searching for wounds. She allowed him to do whatever he needed. That is until he poked her side, just under her ribs, and she giggled. He paused; he knew that was one of her ticklish spots. He did it again. Liv giggled and her body cringed slightly. Then his eyes were looking back at hers and he was smiling widely. "It really is you," he breathed. "God Liv." She smiled gently as he gripped her face gently again. His blue eyes seemed to brighten, and she hadn't realized that they were so pale and lifeless until then. After a moment of them smiling at one another, his face twisted into a not-so-stern frown. "Never do that again!" he said loudly, his voice not sounding as strong as he'd hoped but he continued, "I swear to God Liv. If you ever do that again… I will-"

She smiled and hugged him again. "Never," she promised. "I'm sorry El."

He squeezed her and kissed her temple in a silent show of forgiveness before pulling away again. It was then they both remembered they weren't alone and turned back to the Meeting Room. Thankfully, knowingly, Cragen, Fin, and Brian had stayed in the room to give the two their moments alone. When they both walked in, the other three turned back to give them a smile. Liv also noticed the presence of two other people. One she recognized as Princess Casey; the other man, she had never seen before. She was curious and wary of how close he was standing to Casey's side. They too were looking at Olivia, Casey with shock and the man with curiosity, wonder, and interest. There was something about the look in those hazel eyes that made Liv's stomach twist uncomfortably but she couldn't pinpoint why. That thought was broken when Casey finally gasped, "Olivia! I can hardly believe my eyes!" and, suddenly, Casey was hugging the brunette. Olivia awkwardly hugged her back, careful not to hug too tightly. When the red-head pulled away, she was smiling warmly and happily at Liv but there was also something dark in her eyes. Sadness maybe? Liv wasn't sure; she didn't know Casey well enough. "We're all very glad you've returned! It's quite amazing."

Olivia smiled and dipped her head, "Thank you Princess."

There was a gasp and change in the room that told Liv instantly that something was wrong. Casey smiled sadly at her. "I am technically no longer the Princess," she explained, "Unfortunately, both my parents are dead."

Olivia's eyes widened, "What?" She looked around the room for answers. Why had no one told her about this?

Before anyone could explain anything, Casey smiled again and spoke professionally, "You will receive all the answers you seek and be updated on everything else that's happened while you've been gone Liv but first you must rest and clean-up. You look positively exhausted. I understand you must be homesick but please accept my invitation to stay here in the castle. We can have the cooks prepare a meal for you if you wish to eat before you go to rest?"

Olivia stuttered as she tried to keep up, "Umm okay…"

Casey chuckled. "I'll even make sure you get a room close to Elliot and Kathy's," she didn't wait for a response before she was turning to tell her servants her requests. Olivia looked to her best friend in confusion. Why were her best friend and his wife staying in the castle? Was Kathy okay? Was the baby? He nodded a bit to silently tell her that he would answer her once they were alone. Oddly, the hazel-eyed man was still watching her so she didn't press for more. She avoided his eyes and shifted closer to Elliot's side. Fin and Cragen weren't too far away either which made her feel better. Finally, Casey returned with a servant just behind her. "We have a room ready for you a couple doors down from Elliot and Kathy. Frank here with escort you both there. Dinner will be served to you in your room so you can rest as much as possible. And feel free to make any requests you have known. I will personally come and check on you tomorrow morning. Do you require anything for the evening?" Olivia, feeling as though she'd been swept up in a whirlwind, just shook her head. Casey smiled kindly and knowingly, "Good night then Olivia. Welcome home."

Casey and the hazel-eyed man left along with a few servants. The one Casey had assigned to Liv waited patiently as Olivia glared at her fellow soldiers. "You could've at least warned me that the King and Queen were dead!" she reprimanded them. "What happened?"

Elliot was the one to explain, "They were killed about a week ago by what appeared to be some kind of wild animal- dragon being the best guess since the window to the balcony was wide open and, even if we had other animals capable of such destruction, a dragon is the only thing capable of getting in like that undetected. But the police and the coroner ruled their deaths suspicious because all the servants are positive that they locked the window as they do every night and there was no sign of forced entry. Or that the King and Queen even fought back."

"Any suspects or perps?" she asked.

They all shook their heads. She could just tell that they agreed with the police that the deaths were suspicious. And Olivia was inclined to agree as well. If it had been a dragon, surely someone would've spotted it. Plus, dragons usually ate the people they killed. The Queen and King were always protected, if not by a guard of soldiers during the day then by the precautions taken at night by both the soldiers and servants. Olivia believed that none of them had anything to do with it. King Tucker may have been an asshole but nobody had reason to want him dead; he had done a lot of good for his Kingdom. And Queen Donnelly was well-loved for her wit and quirkiness; she too had personally seen that things in the Kingdom changed for the better. So either the pair had opened and left the window themselves and were actually attacked by a rogue dragon. Or something deeper and darker had happened. Liv looked at all their faces, "What do you think?"

Confirming her thoughts, Cragen answered, "Oh it's suspicious alright. What's more is that the police have been ordered not to investigate further."

"By whom?"

"I'll give you one guess," Fin replied.

Somehow, Liv just _knew_. "That man with Casey. Who was he?"

"William Lewis," Brian answered. "He's the new King-to-be. He arrived the day after you two left," he motioned to her and El, "and completely wrapped the King and Queen around his finger. Within days, he'd enchanted them so deeply that they promised the Princess to him. The engagement was announced and the next day, the Queen and King were found dead."

Olivia gaped in silence for a moment. Then in a near whisper, she asked, "He's her fiancé?"

They nodded. Liv instantly remembered the letter- Alex's letter for Casey. The one that Alex had confessed her love for Casey in. The letter Liv just remembered she still had. Had Alex heard of the engagement? Most likely. Word of something like that would spread quickly even if a formal word had not been sent. Not to mention that she was sure that, had the King and Queen not died, there probably would've been a party of some kind. Oh Alex… She had lost her best friend and the woman she loved at the same time. Liv could only imagine what that must feel like. Amanda's face flashed through her mind but was gone before she could analyze it. She wondered if she should still give Casey the letter when he was engaged to be married. She continued, "What do you think of him?"

Cragen, Fin, and Brian merely shrugged while Elliot growled and said quietly, leaning in closer so no one would overhear him, "I got a bad feeling about the guy."

Liv felt relieved. At least it wasn't just her. She nodded, "I feel that way too."

There was a moment of silence as Liv absorbed all that she had learned so far. She suddenly felt very tired and she rubbed a hand down her face. Elliot smiled affectionately, "Come on Liv. You should get some rest."

"Yes," Cragen agreed, "Take as much time as you need Liv. I would give you an order not to go on the upcoming trade so you can fully recover, but I think I know what you would say to that. So all I'll say is that if you think you aren't well enough for the journey, don't risk your life and others' by going, got it?"

Liv chuckled and nodded as she brightened at her Chief's lack of banning her from leaving for the next trade. "I'll get checked out by a doctor and everything," she appeased, "But I would rather not miss out on the trade."

Cragen just smiled proudly and understandingly. Then he stepped to hug her again. "It really is so good that you're alive Olivia," he said quietly.

Fin and Brian both hugged her and told her how glad they were that she was back as well before following Cragen out. Then Elliot draped an arm over her shoulders and said to the servant, Frank, from earlier, "Can you show us to her room please?"

The servant blushed at Elliot's kind manners before bowing and leading the way back down the hallway Elliot had come rushing down before. The two best friends walked behind in silence, El's arm around her shoulders and Liv's around his waist so that they walked close together, finding comfort in the closeness. Liv had known she'd missed him, just not how much. She had told Amanda a lot about him and how they'd grown up together. She found wishing she could tell Elliot about her too. Finally, they'd reached a door. Frank stopped and said politely, "This is to be your room Assassin. Food should be brought to you shortly. Do you require anything else for the evening?"

Liv smiled kindly, "No, thank you."

He bowed again before leaving. Elliot pointed to a door that was two doors down, "That's where me and Kath are staying." He paused he got a thoughtful look on his face. Then he was smiling at her, "Wait here. I'll be right back." With that he was whizzing into the room, closing it quietly behind him. She waited patiently, trying not to let her mind run wild with reasons as to why her best friend and his wife were staying here again. Finally, he poked his head out and called her over. As she got closer, he opened the door all the way and, there in his arms, was the tiniest baby Olivia had ever seen, sleeping quietly at her daddy's chest. It was wrapped in a soft-looking blanket and had a light dusting of blonde hair on the top of its little head.

Liv gasped, coming to a stop a few feet away, "El. Is… is that…?"

Elliot smiled widely and proudly. In a soft voice, he said, "She came earlier than expected, but she's healthy Thank God. The birth itself was difficult and Kathy is still recovering which is why we're here because the best Doctor stays in the castle. Olivia, I'd like for you to meet my daughter, your Goddaughter, Kathleen Olivia Stabler."

Olivia exhaled loudly as she flicked her eyes from the baby to El, "You… gave her my name?"

He nodded, "Kathy suggested it. She thought it would be a good way to honor you and help me. I agreed right away. Of course, she's technically not your Goddaughter yet, because we weren't allowed to give that title to someone who was… gone." He swallowed heavily. "But we can fix that as soon as possible." He paused as his eyes filled again and his voice got thicker when he said, "They… they wanted me to name a Godparent. Tried to convince me that it was best for her, that you were gone… But I just couldn't Liv. It wasn't like I thought you would come back, I mean I know what goes on out there, but I just couldn't accept that you were gone either."

Liv put a hand on his shoulder to stop him going on, "Hey. It's okay. I'm home now so there's no need to dwell on that. I still would be honored to be Kathleen's Godmother so we'll go tomorrow or the day after. Okay?"

He nodded, seeming soothed. Then he asked in a normal voice, "You wanna hold her?"

Liv smiled and nodded emphatically. Carefully, El passed the baby over to his best friend. The child didn't wake up, but she made a few unhappy noises at all the movement before settling again as Liv held her close to her chest. Liv marveled at how light the baby felt. It was a miracle that she was here seeing as she had been born about a month and a half early. Most babies born that early were either lost after birth or stillborn. Births in general were clutchy as it was. She was so pleased that El and Kathy hadn't had to suffer the loss of their child, especially with Liv's "death" on top of that. And she was happy that she was here to hold her Goddaughter. Thanks to Amanda. Liv stroked the babe's soft cheek and smiled at Elliot, "She's perfect El. I'm so happy for you."

Olivia passed the baby back to her father, who took her with loving gentleness. Liv would've thought it funny to see him so gentle if she had not already predicted it. She knew he'd be a good father. They said good night and that they'd catch each other up on everything else the next day. Liv hugged him awkwardly, mindful of the baby, before heading back to her room. Once inside, she found a meal already laid out for her. Amanda had taken such good care of her that she wasn't as hungry as she knew most would expect; she only managed to eat a third of the food brought to her before growing full. She called the servants to clear it away. She debated asking them to draw her a bath but decided that that could wait until the morning, so she removed most of her clothing, leaving herself in only her undershirt and underwear, and climbed in the bed. It was soft in a way Liv wasn't used too- cushy like a cloud. Before, Liv may have found it heavenly, but suddenly she found herself missing Amanda's bed of furs. Sure, it hadn't been luxurious or special or the most comfortable, but Liv hadn't realized that she had grown so used to smelling Amanda's scent on said furs and the comfort that came with it. As she lay in bed, she thought of what the blonde was doing now, if she was safe. She wouldn't be back home yet even if she had flown. Knowing Amanda had taken care of herself for centuries now well enough wasn't enough to squelch Liv's worry for her friend. Suddenly, the time she would leave again couldn't come soon enough.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: babble babble bitch bitch rebel rebel party party sex sex sex and don't forget the violence. Lol sorry, I have Marilyn Manson stuck in my head.

Note: I seriously wish that I could give y'all something in return for your amazing comments. I'm mentally sending you guys a plate of cookies/brownies/pie/whatever desserts you enjoy and balloons lol. And thank you to those who favorite and followed as well. I seriously get these huge smiles when I see them and I heart you all for it! I'm also glad to see all the comments about Lewis entering things and I think you'll like all that I've got planned for why he's here and whatnot and of course for the rest of the story. Sometimes I write a story without knowing where I want it to go, but this I've got all planned. Muahaha! Yah, idk why the evil laugh lol. Just go with it.

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

Thankfully for Olivia, the next couple of days passed by quickly. By midday the next day, the whole city knew she was home safe. Everyone was asking after how she'd managed such a feat. Olivia was surprised to feel grateful for the privacy awarded to her by staying in the castle. She was also surprised to find that she slept for so long in the foreign environment. After laying awake thinking about Amanda, she crashed so deeply that when she woke up, lunch was nearly cold on the table in her room. She stumbled sleepily over to it and ate her fill before she noticed that a pile of new clothes and a note were sitting on one of the nearby chairs. Curious, she went to it, reaching for the note first. She opened it to see impressively beautiful calligraphy that practically oozed with class. She knew instantly who had written it.

_Dearest Olivia,_

_It truly is a remarkable miracle that you have returned to your city and its people. You may not realize it but most, if not all, of the city have missed you greatly. Even those who, let's just say, may not have thought too well of you. Now now, no need to feel embarrassed that I know of your history. I knew it when we met and it has never changed my opinion of you. Anyway, it was easy to see how your supposed death affected those closest to you most of all. Assassins Munch and Fin were completely stunned, lost even. Dear Nick went from depression to anger fairly quickly; I know it was a worry for everyone to allow him to leave for his trade since it was clear he wanted revenge. Chief Cragen, always so proud and stoic yet kind, had to excuse himself for a day so no one would see him cry. But poor Elliot… Oh Olivia. When you died, so did he. It was truly heartbreaking to see. When he came home, he was so hopeful that you just had to be running late. And the next day, he went up to the Gates himself to look out for you. When he saw the survivors from your group returning, he was so excited. He went down to greet you. But you're weren't there. And when they told him of the attack, the scream from his mouth… Dear God it was horrible. Words cannot describe. I heard it all the way in my chambers here in the castle; the whole city heard it. And we never want to hear a sound like it again. My point in all this Olivia is that, to both this city and your friends, you are very precious, and we are all very glad you are home. As a Welcome-Home gift of sorts, please accept these clothes that I bought and had personalized for you. I noticed yours had seen better days as to be expected living out in the woods for so long. I also wish to offer to have your weapons sharpened and new boots made and anything else you may need done. It will all be paid for. And before you say no, if I have to, I will personally steal your items when you're not looking and take them in myself as well as have myself a shopping spree, all of what I buy being for you. So which is the less of two evils here?_

_-Casey_

_PS: I would've told you all this in person, but when I came to check on you this morning you were still very much asleep. I did not have the heart to wake you considering all you've been through, and you must not have slept much or well. Anyway, I shall come check on you again sometime around lunch. If you are awake by then, I will receive my answer then._

Olivia chuckled as she wiped away the few tears that had slipped out when she read about how Elliot and the rest had reacted. She placed the note down and picked up the clothes before turning back to the door. She poked her head out and saw that Frank was back in his post outside her door to be nearby if she needed assistance. She politely asked if he could get a bath drawn for her. In no time, she was soaking in warm water, using some kind of soft sponge thing to scrub away the dirt and sweat that had built up, mostly, while she and Amanda were heading back to Airia. Amanda had done a fairly good job keeping Liv clean while she was under her care because she hadn't wanted her wounds to get infected. Olivia was used to being dirty, but even she had to admit, it was nice to start over. After she had had enough, she pulled the plug from the drain and got dressed in the new clothes. Casey had done a good job of choosing them. They were a combination of richer and durable fabrics so that Liv could wear them in her normal day life or out on the trade. Lastly, she slipped on her vest. It was a little torn up in places from the attack and dirty, but it was hers and she wasn't going to give it up until it was in shreds. Falling back into her habits from before staying with Amanda, she was sliding one of her knives into her lower back when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called as she finished adjusting.

The door opened and in came Casey, closing the door behind her. The red-head smiled welcomingly at the Assassin, "Good day Olivia. Did you sleep well?"

"I did actually. Thank you."

"And the food? Was it to your liking? How 'bout the clothes?"

Olivia smiled comfortingly, "Everything was great. Thank you for your hospitality. And I will accept the other gifts as well, if they are still being offered."

"Oh yes! Of course! I'll make sure everything is ready for you when you leave again. You are still leaving yes?"

Liv nodded and then the two fell into silence. Finally, Olivia couldn't hold it in anymore. "Casey," she started hesitantly, "I… I have something for you. I'm just not sure if I should give it to you."

Casey looked confused, "Why not?"

"Well because you're engaged and… and because it's from Alex."

Casey jerked as though slapped, her face contorting in pain before she quickly covered it up with an empty look. "What… what did she want to say to me?" Casey asked in as flat a voice as she could manage, but Liv could hear the shake.

Olivia went to her stuff and pulled out the letter. It was dirty and worn and slightly bloodstained in the corner after it's time with Olivia. She stood a few feet in front of Casey and said quietly, "Alex is one of my closest friends so I don't want to betray her confidence. But I do know what is written in there and I do know it's pretty big. When you read it you'll understand why I wasn't sure whether to give it to you or not. But I feel that, out of my connection to Alex, I owe it to her to give you that so you know what she wants you to know."

Casey nodded, "I understand Olivia, thank you. I will read it. Though I don't know what it'll change. My parents are dead. This Kingdom needs a ruling pair, and I'm their only child so it's my responsibility."

Olivia frowned, "But you don't love him."

It wasn't a question but Casey shook her head, "No."

"You love Alex."

This time a nod, "Yes."

"Does she know? About the engagement?"

"She should. I was too much of a coward to send her a personal note, but I believe word was sent."

Liv expected that. Despite her wanting Casey to read it herself, Liv confessed, "She loves you too, you know?" Casey gave her a look that resembled an abused puppy, her wide green eyes filling with tears. Liv could practically feel the pain the red-head felt roiling against her skin. She knew Alex was feeling the same pain. Liv wanted her second best friend to be happy, and she found that she wanted the same for Casey despite not knowing her all that well. "Can't you… I don't know, figure something out? Some way to be with Alex?"

"Don't you think I've thought about it? If there was a way, I'd gladly take it. But like I said Olivia. I have a responsibility to marry Lewis and take over as Queen. I mean, I can live with it; he's been nothing but wonderful to me. He's charming and has a lot of ideas to improve us. Mother and Father loved him. So it isn't as if I'm about to enter into an abusive marriage or anything." Liv held her tongue even though she wasn't so sure about that. "I can live with being unhappy. I just wish I wouldn't have to hurt Alex in the process."

"But you shouldn't have to just live with it," Liv protested. Casey fell into silence with a look that was a cross between sadness, anger, and thoughtfulness. Olivia quickly remembered her manners, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries, future-Queen."

She gave Liv a tiny smile, "You didn't. I enjoy talking with you like this. I've never really had a true friend before. It's nice."

Liv smiled slightly back. After a moment, she asked, "So when's the big day?"

"The day you leave actually."

"Oh, I'm sorry I'll miss it."

"It's fine Olivia. I would demand that you not stay either way. It's going to be such a big event…"

"You don't sound pleased."

Casey shrugged, "I may be a future Queen, but I don't want it to be so flaunted, you know? Sometimes I wish I were born to a normal life, like you. I would joyfully serve under your command if you'd have me. I mean, imagine me dressed in a soldier's garb, ready with a sword or crossbow, following you atop a horse on your assigned trade route, and fighting dragons when they attack."

Olivia chuckled at that, "You've certainly painted an interesting picture."

Casey smiled wider, her eyes lighting a bit, "You don't think I could do it."

Liv held up her hands in a sign of surrender as she laughed, "I never said that. I'd delightedly train you to be a soldier. You'd make the outfit look good too I'm sure. You could get anyone."

At that, Casey's smiled died slightly, "I could have Alex." Liv cursed herself as she sobered too. Then Casey seemed to rebuild the walls she'd installed and said, "Right. I've told Frank to gather your weapons and get them sharpened and to buy anything else you may need. I also had the idea to touch up your saddle, bridle, and replace the items you lost in the attack. Does that cover everything?" Liv nodded. "Good. Everything should be delivered to your house on time for you to leave. You're welcome to stay in the castle as long as you want; it may do you some good. I also believe Elliot would benefit from having you so close. And Liv?" She paused as Liv waited expectantly, "Please… tell Alex that I'm sorry. Make sure she knows that I love her and that nothing can be done to change this." When Liv nodded with a sad and guilty look, Casey, seemingly able to read her train of thought, added, "Even if you had returned home on time, it would've been too late; you are not to blame here." Casey walked to the door. She turned around and smiled, "Thank you for the talk Olivia. Good luck on your next trip."

"Goodbye. Thank you."

Not long after Casey left, Liv went down to Elliot's door and knocked softly. It wasn't long before it opened and Elliot smiled excitedly at her before surging forward to hug her. They talked for a while and Liv held baby Kathleen. They had dinner and then talked with Cragen and Fin. Liv spent a second night in the castle. On the third day, Munch and Nick were due to return home and as soon as Liv heard that they were home, she rushed to greet them. John was beyond happy to see her and hugged her tightly. Nick on the other hand hugged her so tightly he almost broke her ribs as he sobbed joyfully. She allowed him to do whatever he needed. A few hours later, the Assassins gathered together to drink at the local bar, celebrating Liv's return. A lot of people tried to get Liv's story, but she simply told them a watered-down version of the story she and Amanda had concocted and then asked for them to back off. Some men tried to give her trouble, but Elliot and Nick were quick to defend her. Though she had a lot of fun with her closest friends, she found herself overwhelmed by the loudness of the bar, of the craziness of the city in general. She had never noticed it before, but now she found it uncomfortable and annoying. She supposed that she had just gotten used to the quietness, the simpleness of living with Amanda. She missed that. She missed Amanda. But she was leaving the next day, she told herself. She was close to seeing her blonde-haired dragon again, and she was incredibly excited about it. She thought of all she would tell Amanda, about baby Kathleen and the wedding. She didn't have a definite plan yet, but she was going to try her hardest to spend as much time with Amanda as possible.

Finally, it was time. Liv quickly went to say goodbye to Elliot, Kathleen, Cragen, Munch, and Nick before leaving with Fin to saddle up. She could tell they were nervous to let her go again, especially Elliot. But she didn't have to comfort them; they understood because they were the same. They understood that Liv was a soldier. Her duty and heart told her to get back on her horse and lead her men on the trade. She herself wasn't nervous at all. She knew in her very soul that Amanda would be there. And sure enough, as she bid farewell to her fellow Assassins and stepped out beyond the gates, she could feel it; someone was watching her, and it made her feel protected. She grinned out into the forest, hoping Amanda would see it and know that Olivia was happy she was there. Coffee too seemed to sense their friend and gave an excited nicker. Her men just chuckled in amusement, assuming she was simply excited to not have been kept home. They travelled until nightfall. After seeing over the typical precautions, Liv volunteered for first watch. She and two other soldiers spread out, weapons at the ready and senses heightened. Liv senses however were also trying to hone in on the feeling she knew was coming from Amanda's eyes on her. She walked a bit farther away before calling softly, "You here Amanda?"

In response, a blue light moved toward her. Amanda's eyes. The blonde zoomed to the human and, as soon as she was on her feet, was attacked with a vicious hug. This time, she was quicker to hug the human back. She smiled widely and whispered, "Hello Olivia."

They hugged for a moment more before pulling away. Olivia did her best to look over Amanda in the dark. She didn't seem any different from the last time they saw each other. "How are you?" she asked just to be sure.

Amanda chuckled, her glowing blue eyes rolling good-naturedly, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm much better now that I'm with you," Liv said, realizing she meant every word. Amanda was glad for the darkness; it meant Liv couldn't see her blushing. Liv continued on without giving Amanda time to respond, "Did you go back home after we parted?"

"No. I made myself a makeshift nest close by. No one even suspected I was there."

"Good. So is it safe for us to talk a while?"

Amanda nodded, "The nearest dragon is too far away to even know you're here. I'll always keep a lookout and let you know if they're coming."

"I appreciate that." She took Amanda's hand and guided her to a nearby boulder. She pulled Amanda down with her as she sat on the ground so she could rest her back against it. Instinctively, as she sank down next to the human, Amanda's wing unfolded and was ready to catch Liv as she leaned back. Olivia gasped in surprise.

"Sorry," Amanda mumbled, blushing again and moving to take her wing back.

But Olivia quickly, gently, relaxed against the soft skin, avoiding the boney parts so as not to hurt them, before she could, even going so far as to grab the edge of it and lightly pull it so it covered her more before letting it go. Amanda's heart jerked at the touch and the sentiment behind it. It was the first time Liv really touched her wings. And it was only a quick touch at that to a small area. She wanted Liv to do it again only more. She wanted to feel Liv's hands roam across the expanse of skin and bones, and she didn't understand why. Amanda suddenly recalled her mother saying that it was an intimate act to allow someone to touch your wings who wasn't family. Amanda pushed the thought away before it had time to root, refocusing her attention on the brunette next to her. Liv too realized she had never properly touched the blonde's extra extremities- not that she hadn't wanted to; she definitely did, but something told her she should wait. So beyond her back resting against it, she didn't touch the wing again, launching into her story of what had happened since she and Amanda parted. The wing around her tightened slightly in comfort when she got emotional over her and Elliot's reunion and the tale of his reaction to the news. Amanda smiled and laughed with her as she told her about Kathleen and how the priest had kept messing up the process to make her the baby's Godmother because he was so shocked to see the back-from-the-dead woman. Eventually, it was time for Olivia to return to the group. She promised a repeat the next night though, and so, when Liv went on first watch again, she called for her blonde dragon and they spent some more time together. This time, Liv shared some of her human delicacies with the isolated woman like donuts and coffee, laughing with joy and pride as Amanda hummed in pleasure and praised them with a full mouth. When Amanda reported that she felt jittery in an excited, hyper voice, Liv laughed so hard, she had to cover herself with her vest so she wouldn't be heard. Amanda found she didn't care that the soldier was laughing at her expense; she loved to hear the human laugh. When Liv had to leave again, she told Amanda to stay close and keep an eye out, that she might need a few days to make sure the trade went according to plan and to comfort Alex, but she would find a way to sneak away to be with the blonde once more. Amanda agreed and took to the trees where she would have a clear view.

Olivia was slightly nervous as she led her men into the city and to their usual hotel, mostly because she was worried to find what state Alex was in. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long. She went to Alex's home and rang the bell. A servant led her to where Alex had apparently shut herself in. With a frown, she knocked before entering without a response. She was greeted with a dimly lit room. The shades were covering the windows. Clothes and items littered the floor including a turned over desk, one of the chairs where she and Alex used to sit and drink brandy, papers, and other things. It was as if a tornado had swept through but Liv knew that it had to be Alex herself that had torn the room apart. She was about to call out for her blonde friend when she heard a gasp and a croak, "Olivia?"

Suddenly, the curtains were swept aside, blanketing the room in bright light, making Liv blink to adjust. When she could see again, she saw a disheveled, wild-eyed Alex standing by the windows. Liv swallowed her concern for her and smiled warmly, "Hey Alex."

For a moment, Alex just stood there with her mouth agape. Then she was frowning. "You know, I've already had this dream before," she said angrily.

Liv was confused, "Uh sorry. What?"

Alex glared at her as she crossed her arms, looking much more like the ice-cold Alex she knew most people saw than the warm, lovable Alex Liv knew. "I've already had this dream!" she spat, "Where you come to tell me everything is okay, that you're alive and you'll help me find a way to be with Casey despite the fact that she's getting married. And every time I have believed you and allowed you to comfort me. And then you die in my arms. You turn into a cold, stiff corpse with cloudy eyes and yellow skin and you say, 'Sorry. I lied.' And I will NOT go through that again! I can't keep losing my best friend, especially not after I've lost the woman I love! I won't! So just go away and stop tormenting me whoever you are!" As she finished yelling, she sank to the floor, curled up in a ball, and chanted softly to herself, "Liv would never do this to me. It's only a nightmare. A self-destroying figment of my mind. Go away. Just go away."

Liv wasn't sure anything could break her heart like when she had held a sobbing Elliot in her arms. But this did. It hurt just as much and Liv had to choke back sobs. Quickly, she went to her best friend and crouched next to her. She tried to touch Alex's arm but she flinched and whimpered. Instead, she just said softly, "Al. Hey. This isn't a dream. I'm real. I'm here."

"No. No you're not. Please stop," Alex whined.

"Alex please," she whispered as tears slid down her cheeks, "Look at me." Alex hesitated for a moment before she relented. Liv did her best to smile. "I promise. It's me. What do I have to do or say to get you to believe me?"

Alex pouted as she thought. "You've never asked me that before," she whispered. Then she slowly pushed herself up. Hesitantly, she reached out to touch Liv's face. Then her fingers slid down to her neck where the necklace she'd given the soldier still lay. She pulled it out of Liv's clothes. She stared at it in her palm as she explained monotonously, "In the dream, you weren't wearing it. Because deep down I believed you would take it off because you felt guilty for accepting such a gift or because it wasn't your style or because you didn't want to ruin it. Or maybe because you simply didn't like it."

Olivia shook her head vehemently, "I would never take this necklace off. It's special to me because it's from you." Alex's eyes moved to hers. "When I realized it was still around my neck after the attack, I was so happy Alex. I would've been really upset if I had lost it. I love this necklace like I love you. Please Alex. Believe I'm real."

Alex was frozen for a moment. Liv could see that there was a war going on inside her. Her blue eyes were brightening with hope even as they stayed dark with grief and disbelief. Finally, something inside Alex snapped, and she was sobbing as she clutched at her best friend. "Oh Olivia!" she cried.

Olivia simply held the blonde as tight and close as she could manage as she whispered comforting things in her ear. Alex's hands were touching and squeezing her everywhere, but Liv didn't mind. As with Elliot and Nick, she let Alex do what she needed to ease herself. Finally, Alex's gross-sobbing died to whimpers and hiccups, so Liv gently lifted her into her arms and took her to the bed. She cuddled Alex close, the blonde with half her body on top of Liv's, her head on Liv's chest, her arms tightly around her waist, until the blonde exhausted herself to sleep. Olivia stayed awake, petting Alex's hair when she would stir in her sleep. The blonde only once woke up with a gasp of Olivia's name, only to find instant comfort when the brunette was still there. After that, Alex had no more signs of a nightmare, but Liv continued to stay. She cried silently for a while for the pain she had inadvertently caused in her friends and she suddenly wished Amanda were there to comfort her. Selfishly, she hoped that Alex would be okay to let her leave in at most a few days so Liv could receive her own soothing hug from her blonde dragon.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: blarg blarg blarg

Note: press rewind and play! Thank everyone for their comments, favorites, and follows. They make me smile. Lol sorry this one is a few days late (I usually post earlier in the week) but one of my managers at work went on vacation and I got a lot of hours to pick up the slack. I have a lot of hours next week as well so I may post later in the week again, if I can at all. But either way don't worry; I'm not bored of this story so I won't stop writing it. We're starting to see these two realizing their feelings so it won't be much longer now. I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~SVU~~~~~

It took two days for Alex to allow Liv out of her sight even though she stayed close. Four for her to calm enough to allow Liv to even think about leaving. Liv began to worry that she wouldn't get to see Amanda after all, but she knew she couldn't leave until Alex was okay. Or at least better than she was. She had nightmares every night though some seemed worse than others. But at least Alex would calm upon waking and seeing that Liv was right there next to her. Finally, Alex seemed to have sensed her inner anxiousness. She knew she was exhibiting signs of restlessness- she could hardly sit still, her leg jumped, she kept looking out the window- but she couldn't help it. Time was shrinking and she wanted to see Amanda. She and Alex were drinking some tea on the fifth day when Alex finally placed a hand on her jumping knee. When Liv gave her an expectant look, Alex smiled softly, "I can tell you want to get away from me Liv."

Liv shook her head, immediately protesting, "No of course not Al. I-"

Alex squeezed her knee to stop her. "Go," she said gently, "I'll be fine."

Liv gave her an unsure look, "Are you sure? I really don't mind staying. I want you to feel better."

"I do Liv. You've done wonders for my mental state."

"But your nightmares…"

Alex shrugged, "They aren't so bad anymore. I promise you. I'll be fine. I'll get freshened up and go outside and get some things I've fallen behind on done. Trevor will be glad that I'll be out of this room and that people will know I haven't withered away in here."

Liv was still worried but she could tell Alex would throw her out if she had to; she could see in Alex's eyes that, though she didn't want Liv to go, she had to let her go. Liv felt her selfishness begging to take control. Hesitantly, she nodded, "Alright Al. If you say so. But I'll stay close so that if you need me I'll know, okay?"

Alex smiled, "Deal. Thank you." She and Liv stood and hugged. She walked Liv to the door and watched her leave. It wasn't until she was around the corner that she allowed a huge smile to overwhelm her as excitement and joy flooded through her. She ran to the hotel to pack a small bag of clothes and things she would need for the next few days. If it all went okay, if Alex wouldn't need her to come back, Liv could spend a whole five days with her blonde dragon before she needed to be back to lead her men home. As she was leaving, she passed two of her men and told them she'd be gone for a few days but that she'd keep an ear out if she was needed; she didn't want anyone worrying about her. Then quickly, she was gone. If she remembered correctly, there should be a small hole in the city walls somewhere behind the hotel. She remembered stumbling upon it one day a couple years ago when she spotted teenage boys daring each other to climb through and out into the forest. She had reprimanded them for being reckless and stupid and sent them home, threatening to tell their parents. She knew it was here somewhere… Ah hah! There it was! It was well-hidden and well out of sight so she didn't think she'd have to worry about anyone seeing her. Just in case, she looked around before slipping through. It was a tight fit, but she managed to slide through. Then she was off into the trees before the guards could see her. When she was far enough, she stopped and called, "Amanda?" When she didn't get a response, she walked towards the front gate, thinking that maybe Amanda thought she would come out there. She called again, "Amanda? … Amanda?"

"Hello Liv," the sudden voice behind her caused Olivia to flinch and whirl around. Amanda was standing there with a sly, proud smirk on her face.

Liv instantly relaxed and stepped forward to hug the blonde, pleased when Amanda didn't hesitate to hug her back. When she pulled away, she punched the blonde's arm with a teasing grin on her face, "That's for scaring me you jerk." Amanda just laughed. "So where are you taking me?"

"Taking you?" Amanda's smile dimmed a bit in her confusion.

Liv chuckled, "Well yah. You didn't think we'd just sitting around in the open waiting for some human or dragon to stumble upon us did you?"

Amanda shrugged, "Guess I didn't think about it much. Where do you want to go? It would take too long to get back to my cabin." Then Amanda had an idea, "There's this one spot I like to go; it's really beautiful Liv. It shouldn't take us too long to get there- a few hours maybe."

"Sounds perfect. Lead the way."

"No Coffee?"

Liv shook her head, "The only way I can get her out is through the gate and that would bring too much attention."

Amanda nodded before turning to lead the way. They walked in companionable silence for a while side-by-side. After a few minutes, Liv had to hold back a gasp as she felt the skin of the back of her hand brush along Amanda's. It was like lightning struck her there and suddenly her whole body was tingling. She had the sudden, nearly uncontrollable urge to complete the contact and grip Amanda's hand in hers. Without giving it any more thought, she shoved the feeling away, though she couldn't bring herself to move away. Focused as she was on reining her urges, she failed to notice that Amanda's wings were twitching with each brush of skin as the blonde fought the same battle. As she forced her mind to think about other things, Liv realized that she had never noticed how beautiful and peaceful and clean the forest was before. It wasn't like she got much of a chance to admire her surroundings when she was too busy trying to keep herself and her men from being dragon food. This was the first time she was walking through the woods without reason or care. It was remarkable that she could feel so safe when all her life she had been taught of the dangers lurking outside and how to fight them. Now, she was even without her sword and couldn't bring herself to care even though she knew she should. She had one of her knives so she wasn't completely weaponless, but still, for a soldier to go out without their sword… She could picture Elliot reprimanding her for forgetting their training. But she knew that she was safe with Amanda. Liv wondered why she was so okay with that, but didn't have time to think of an answer. She was suddenly gently shoved to the side. When she caught her balance, she turned to see Amanda grinning playfully at her, her wings slightly arched as they returned to her body. Liv laughed and went to shove her back but Amanda darted forward and to Liv's other side. Using her other wing, Amanda shoved her again.

"Hey!" Olivia laughed.

Amanda giggled. She couldn't explain it, but being with Olivia at that moment filled her with a childlike joy. Amanda's wings flapped in excited giddiness as Olivia tried to come at her again. She jumped back, turned around, and started running away. Olivia's laugh was hardy as she gave chase, determined to get the blonde. A few times, Amanda felt Liv's fingers brush the tips of her wings so she would go faster. Liv chuckled through her panting, "Tease!" Amanda smirked and jumped up, using her wings to push her even higher, out of the human's reach. "Cheater!" Liv called. Amanda glided from tree to tree while Liv cursed her jokingly as she tried to keep up. Finally, Liv had no choice but so surrender. She slowed to a stop, bent over slightly, and panted, "All right. All right. I give up."

Amanda landed back at her side and chuckled, "Slow poke."

This time when Liv surged to shove the dragon-woman, she succeeded. Amanda squeaked in surprise as her wings flapped to help her rebalance. Liv smirked proudly.

"Now who's the cheater?" Amanda grinned teasingly.

"Still you! Ms. I'm-Gonna-Fly-Through-The-Trees!"

Amanda laughed. When Liv caught her breath, Amanda informed, "We're almost there. Can you keep up this time?" Liv stuck out her tongue, making Amanda laugh again. Liv found that she really enjoyed the sound of Amanda's laughter. They continued walking for a few minutes when Amanda announced, "Here we are."

The two pushed out of the trees and Liv gasped at the sight that greeted her. Directly ahead of them was a stream, not too wide across, with a small beach on its shore and a trail of stepping rocks connecting one side to the other. But the thing that enchanted Liv the most was the waterfall cascading down over the side of a wall of rocks. It had to be at least ten feet tall and at its bottom was a deep pool. It was midday by now, and the rays of the sun were hitting the scene just right, making it look like a piece of heaven. Liv let out a heavy breath. "It's beautiful Amanda," she sighed.

Amanda smiled. She had been watching Liv's face for her reaction; she hadn't been sure that the human would appreciate the sight of one of her favorite spots in the forest. But the moment they stepped out from the trees, Liv's eyes had widened and her jaw was slack with awe. Amanda knew that she saw all the beauty that Amanda did. "It's one of my favorite places," she explained, "I like to come here when the cabin feels too claustrophobic." She paused before continuing with a touch of sadness in her voice, "My parents used to bring me and my sister here. Sometimes there would be others here, but most of them preferred the lake that used to be closer to where we lived. A lot of the times we would have it all to ourselves. Just our family. My sister and I would splash around and swim while our parents watched. Sometimes our father would come in with us. He used to throw us around and teach us how to do handstands and use our wings to swim faster and spray our mom from in the water while she sunbathed. She would get so mad but we'd be laughing so hard we'd start crying, and she wouldn't be able to stay mad for more than a few minutes before she'd be laughing too."

Liv looked at her, her face filled with sympathy. Quietly she asked, "What were their names? You don't tell me much about your immediate family. Not that I blame you."

"It's too hard most of the time," Amanda agreed. She hesitated as she waited for her grief to overwhelm her, but Liv stepped closer and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Just that small touch was even enough to soothe and act like a balm on her old wounds. She spoke easier than she expected when she answered, "My sister's name was Kimberly, but most called her Kim. I was the only one allowed to call her Kimmy. She looked a lot like me- blonde, though her eyes were more blue-green. My mother and father both had parents who alive before the Gift and so were given more dragon-traditional names. Seraphina, which means 'fiery-winged', was my mother; she was blonde as well but with green eyes but in dragon form she was the color of fire, hence her name. And Auron, which means 'mountain of strength' was my father; he had brown hair, blue eyes, and always kept his facial hair slightly scruffy and in dragon form he was brown. I also had aunt, Wistala, on my mother's side, but we weren't close with her."

"How come you and your sister weren't given dragon names?"

Amanda shrugged, "It was necessarily required, though human names helped us blend in more. I don't know how my parents felt about naming us what they did, if they would've preferred dragon names, but I'm quite fond of my name as well as my sister's." Olivia opened her mouth to ask another question but Amanda beat her to it. "No, I don't know what either means or if they even chose our names based on meaning as dragons in previous generations had done. Do you know what your name means?"

"Olive Tree," Liv rolled her eyes, "But I don't think my mother chose my name based on meaning. I think she just picked the first name that came to her so she wouldn't have to think about it much."

Amanda exchanged the sympathizing look before smiling, "Ready to swim?"

Olivia blushed, suddenly taking on a shy look, "Actually, I don't know how to swim. Airia is landlocked and I've only visited Telemete, the city by the sea, once or twice. I've never learned."

Amanda's head tilted to the side, "Do you want me to teach you?"

Olivia's eyes widened. There were only a handful of times in Liv's life when she had been truly nervous and fearful. The first was when her mother got shitfaced drunk for the first time and attacked her when she was about 10 years old. Another had been when she developed her first crush and later shared her first kiss with a girl named Ziva. Another was when she first joined the Guard and again later when she left for her first trade as a mere soldier. Most recently, it was during the dragon attack, again when she discovered Amanda's true form, and again when she'd been cornered by those three dragons before Amanda came to her rescue. There were smaller instances Liv was sure but not many. But now she could add the idea of learning to swim to that. Illogical thoughts began to run through her head. What if she sunk? What if she got stuck in mud, the kind that pulls you down the more you struggle? What if she slipped on a rock, hit her head, and drowned? What if she got attacked by some kind of water monster? But she shook those impossible thoughts away as she told herself, 'Amanda won't let anything happen to me.' Besides, Liv was a soldier, an Assassin. She had faced every other fear she'd ever come across and, for the most part, had come out okay afterwards, came out stronger than before. Determined to face and get over this fear as well, Liv nodded, "Okay."

Amanda grinned happily, making Olivia feel better about her decision. She led Liv to the small beach where she instantly began to remove some of her clothing. Not expecting this, Liv could only watch in fascination, her body frozen. She stared as Amanda carefully pulled off her shirt, over her wings and then over her head. Her eyes roamed over the smooth, bare skin of Amanda's back starting at the bottom and working her way up. She took in the two small back dimples just above the fabric of her pants, the bumps of her spine which were noticeable in a healthy way though the blonde was on the skinnier side, the bones of her shoulder blades as they moved fluidly as she moved, and finally the place where Amanda's wings came from. The two shaft bones were between her shoulder blades and clearly moved of their own accord, Liv noted as Amanda shook out her wings before folding them against her back once more. She could see where the blonde's dark blue scales of her wings slowly melted into pale, perfect skin. It was like newly mixed melted chocolate and caramel the way the blue and pinkish colors blended together. Liv had to resist the temptation to step closer so she could study where skin met scales with not only her eyes but her fingers as well. Amanda fingers had just untied her pants and were pushing them down when Liv realized she was practically drooling over the sight in front of her. Modestly, she quickly looked away before she could ogle more of Amanda's body as she croaked, "Um Amanda? What are you doing?"

Amanda paused to look over her shoulder. "I'm getting ready to swim," she said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"No no," Liv said awkwardly, "I get that but… Just… why do you have to be naked?" 'And why is it turning me on?' Liv asked herself silently.

"Well there's several reasons. One, the clothes will get wet and heavy and make it harder to swim. Two, wet clothes chafe the skin of my wings. Three, I didn't bring a change of clothes with me. Four, I don't want to ruin them. Five-"

"Okay, I get it," Liv interrupted. She could feel the blush still raging on her cheeks.

Amanda lifted an eyebrow as she turned to face the human, making Liv only blush harder as she forced herself not to look. "This bothers you," Amanda stated. She wasn't offended; she had never been self-conscious about her body, and dragons were definitely not known for their modesty- they often walked around naked because human clothes were annoying and confining. But she didn't understand why Liv was acting as she was. "Does my appearance offend you in some way?" she asked innocently.

"No!" Liv practically shouted it, so she cleared her throat and tried again, "No. It doesn't offend me. Or scare me. Or whatever. I just wasn't expecting you to just get naked." 'Why exactly was this a problem again?'

Amanda still didn't understand, but for the sake of the human she twisted her wings around her to cover herself up. "Is this better?"

Liv's eyes flicked up and when she saw that Amanda's wings were blocking the view, she felt an odd mix of relief and regret. Still she nodded, "Yes. Sorry."

Amanda smiled kindly, "No need. I should have asked if it was okay first. I forget that dragons are less prudish than humans." Liv chuckled before Amanda added, "You do not have to get naked as well if you don't want, but it would help make you more buoyant."

Liv swallowed nervously. She wasn't nervous showing off her body by any means. Sure, she wouldn't walk around naked except for in the comfort of her own home, but she was comfortable with her body and knew it to be attractive. But there were two reasons she didn't feel comfortable getting naked here. One, she hardly knew Amanda, despite how close they'd become and how completely she trusted the dragon-woman; it would simply be too weird. Two, she was sure that, if she were to get naked, Amanda would be able to smell her arousal and that would be the end of their friendship. Neither is something Liv wanted to think about right then. She figured she would be conquering one fear today; two would just be pushing it. So she shook her head, "I'll just say in my under layers."

Amanda felt a flash of disappointment but shrugged and turned to head into the water. It wasn't quite the peak of summer yet so the air wasn't too hot, but after their chase, the cool water felt refreshing. Amanda sighed, spreading her wings again when she was deep enough the water covered her lower half. She felt the water sooth her hot muscles of her wings and hummed in pleasure. She was aware of Liv still watching her from the shore and, to show her that the water wasn't dangerous, she continued to walk until she could dive into the deep parts. Pressing her arms to her sides and her legs together, she pumped her wings to zoom through the water. Finally, when she came up for air she was by the waterfall. She folded her wings and used her arms and legs to swim the rest of the way. She let it flow over her head, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. Liv watched from the shore, once again fascinated by Amanda and the way she moved through the water. The water was crystal clear so she could see her until she resurfaced by the waterfall. The dragon-woman was so graceful and beautiful, and she made swimming look easy and fun. Liv took the opportunity to remove her vest and outermost clothing until she was in a loose, sleeveless undershirt and boy shorts. She tossed her clothing away from the water along with Amanda's before walking into the water. It was a little chilly, but after their game of chase earlier and standing in the sun, it felt nice. Liv understood why Amanda had hummed. She walked until the water reached her hips and then she stopped. She scooped up the water and dumped it over her head, smiling as it further cooled her. Her shaggy hair pressed against her head so Liv smoothed it back as she waited for Amanda to return.

Remembering Liv's modesty, Amanda stayed far enough away so the water covered her body, but she smiled and asked, "Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Liv nodded and started walking closer. She started to get more nervous the higher the water got. Amanda said soothingly, "It's okay Liv. You can still stand where I am. That's it." Finally, Liv was close enough that Amanda could reach out and offer her hand.

Liv gave her a panicked look, "Wait! Aren't you gonna show me what to do first?"

"It's better to learn as you go. Don't worry Liv. I won't let you sink."

She said it so relaxingly that Liv instantly decided to put all her faith in Amanda. She put her hand in Amanda's and let her pulled her out further.

"Just start kicking your feet and moving your arms back and forth," she explained softly as Liv felt the bottom starting to get just out of reach. She did as Amanda said and was shocked when she stayed on the surface. "There," Amanda smiled, "You don't have to kick so hard or fast though. You'll tire out. Just do what I do." Amanda still held Liv's hand as she moved her arms and legs back and forth at a slow enough pace that kept her floating but didn't tire her out too fast. Liv slowly matched her movements. Amanda let her do that for a few minutes to build her confidence before saying, "Good. Now we're gonna move forward. Just keep moving your arms and legs like that but pull yourself forward instead of just treading. Like this." Amanda slowly moved forward, gently pulling Liv along with her. Then she moved a little faster, causing Liv to do the same. "It helps if you angle yourself so your head moves ahead of your feet." When they did this, they moved faster. Liv's confidence seemed to grew the longer she did it. Amanda kept smiling at her as her reward and guiding her. She taught Liv how to breast stroke and then how to back stroke. Liv was proud of herself for keeping up and Amanda was pleased that she learned quickly. Finally, Liv grew tired so Amanda taught her to float. With Liv's muscle mass, it wasn't easy, but she figured it out. They stayed like that for a while with Liv floating peacefully and relaxed while Amanda swam around her. Then they swam to shore to start preparing for nightfall.

Thankfully, Amanda dressed once she was dried before she went hunting, leaving Liv the task of setting up the lean-to she had stored there during her last visit. It was a few animal hides sewn together that would provide a roof and walls held up with several thick, sturdy sticks. In front of it, Amanda had dug a firepit and set up a meat rack like she had at her home. It was simple and rugged, but Liv loved it and found it ingenious. She was certain that, if left stranded in the woods, she would never be able to figure out how to survive like Amanda had. She had just finished setting up the tent when Amanda came back a short time later with a small doe. Liv grinned happily and said, "Good thing too! I'm starving, and I've been craving your cooking since I left."

Amanda laughed and responded, "Well better hurry up and start a fire so you won't starve to death then."

Liv devoured her meal as Amanda watched with amusement. When they were finally full, the sun had set and the light was limited but already they could see the stars. Content to just relax and be for a while, Liv and Amanda lay out one of the fur blankets and lay back on it to watch the stars. Amanda explained all the constellations she knew as Liv listened intently. Amanda would never cease to amaze her, she was sure of it. When Amanda ran out of stories, Liv asked through her yawn, "Do we have to worry about the dragons here?"

Amanda shook her head but then remember Liv probably couldn't see her. "No," she answered, "For some reason, they hardly come here. We can both sleep at the same time."

"Good. 'Cause I am way too tired to keep watch."

Amanda smiled, "Wanna head to bed?"

Liv rolled on to her side, facing Amanda, and sighed, "Can't we just stay here? It's so peaceful to be under the stars like this. I've never slept outside like this before."

The blonde chuckled, "Sure Liv. We can stay."

The night was a tad chilly, but Liv had redressed in all her layers and was comfortable and at ease. She felt herself losing the battle to sleep. Sleepily, she said, "Night 'Manda."

"Good night Olivia."

Liv was asleep almost instantly after that. Amanda stayed awake a while longer to continue to watch the sky. She was just feeling sleepy enough to close her eyes when Liv mumbled in her sleep. Amanda opened one eye to watch as the brunette slid closer and draped an arm over her stomach, trying to pull Amanda closer. Amanda held her breath. Liv grumbled again before sliding the rest of the way over, pressing tight against Amanda's side. The blonde instinctively moved her arm out of the way and Liv's head came to rest on her shoulder just above her right breast. She sighed and smiled in her sleep before stilling again. Amanda slowly exhaled as she carefully lowered her arm. It came to rest a top Liv's upper arm. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart and cool the burning blush that she felt heating her throat and face. It had been a long time since she was like this with another being. She often cuddled with her sister and with Dean. But with him it had never affected her like this. She felt heat and emotion swelling through her. She was hyperaware of the human next to her in a way she had never been with another being. She could feel the arm around her waist, the weight of the head on her chest, the soft, steady breathing against her side, and the exhale of air against the skin of her neck. It was doing things to Amanda that she both understood and didn't. She remembered what it feels like to be aroused and this was definitely accomplishing that. But in addition to that arousal, she could feel something else, some kind of warmth that spread outwards from her chest. It was confusing but nice. And the longer she let it happen, the more she relaxed and enjoyed it. Soon, the heat of Liv's body melted her until she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
